Through the Eyes of Six
by firerwolf
Summary: The story of Reach through Shar-B312, aka Noble Six's POV. Going to be from start to finish. Rated for violence.
1. Noble Actual

Shar sat in the warthog, staring down at her ODST helmet. She felt the eyes of her driver glancing over at her every once in a while. He'd tried to start a conversation a couple times but had never really said anything that led to her replying. After a while, he'd just given up. Still, he kept looking over at her. Was it really that odd to see a Spartan without their helmet on, or was he just not used to being so close to a Spartan? It didn't really matter to her; she was used to being stared at. As long as the driver wasn't so distracted that he hit something, he could look all he liked.

Shar was more focused on the reflection she saw in the brilliant blue visor of her helmet. The color of the reflective surface tinted everything blue, and she had to admit she liked it. She'd always liked the color blue and if it were at all a good idea, which it wasn't for her work, she would wear blue armor. She was meant for stealth though, which meant not being seen. Black just made it easier. She did like the blue tint that seemed to accent the sleek lines of the rounded helmet. She wondered for a moment why she liked blue so much. She just always had. She remembered happy blue eyes smiling at her, and blue sheets on her parent's bed.

Cold eyes stared back at her from the reflection in the helmet, the eyes of a killer. That was all she really was any more. She was a killer, out to kill every last Covenant that got in her way. She didn't mind it—the only other option that she'd had was to be a refuge and leave it to someone else to save humanity. That wasn't the life for her. She had soldier blood flowing through her veins. Since the moment she'd hit that grunt with a rock she knew that fighting the Covenant was all she was going to do. She was going to kill them, make them pay for her dead family, every single last one.

Shar absently reached up and ran her gloved fingers over the scar along her neck. The mark splashed along her neck all the way up onto her right cheek. It was just one scar added to a large collection that only seemed to grow with each battle. Most of them she could hide, and her armor made it easy. The slash mark across her back from an energy sword still hurt at times and the large scar on her left thigh from a needler exploding ached if she ran for too long. The others were only reminders of the battles she'd fought, of the victories and all the planets that she'd tried to save but couldn't.

Shar was nothing like the child she had once been. Her happiness had gone with her planet and she found nothing but determination for victory. She never even found joy in her wins. Even if she killed the Covenant on the ground, she still saw so many humans dying, those she wanted to protect. She was only thankful that she'd never seen a planet glassed. She wasn't sure how she would take seeing a planet destroyed.

Her driver said something about their destination and Shar looked up, seeing the building up ahead. She looked back down, once more taking in the visor that was her face to so many. She flipped the helmet over and slipped it over her head. The suit sealed together with a hiss. She looked up at the falcons as they passed overhead and made their way to the camp. They landed only seconds before the warthog eased to a stop. Shar stood up and moved out of the vehicle. She heard the engine spring to life as the driver moved off.

Shar looked around the camp. It was pretty simple. A couple buildings and the two falcons. She made her way around one of the air transports and moved toward the building to meet up with her team. The familiar voice of Colonel Holland could be heard as she approached.

"_Contact with Visegrad Relay was lost last night. All signals flatlined at twenty-six hundred hours."_ The deep authoritative voice was familiar to Shar. She felt oddly out of place in a team. She had been trained, and deployed in the field, as a single unit, sometimes only attached to marines for short periods of time.

Shar spotted a green-armored soldier sitting to the side. She noticed the odd tattoo on the left side of his face and neck. He was absently inserting rounds into a sniper rifle magazine. He must be the recon of the team. Always good to have a sniper on the team. She felt his eyes track her as she moved toward the building.

"_I responded with trooper fire teams, which since have been declared MIA._" Shar frowned at the Colonel's words. Missing troopers? Insurrectionists were possible, but she found it odd that they would be able to take out troopers.

"And now you're sending us in." The voice that spoke was strong and deep, but not as deep as the Colonel's. The words still carried an edge of power and leadership to them. There was something in the tone that made Shar feel more at ease, more confident, though she wasn't sure what.

"_The Office of Naval Intelligence believes deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources. I disagree." _Shar couldn't help but smile behind her visor. The Colonel had never been a big fan of ONI, or all their red tape. He'd never been very careful about hiding his dislike either.

Shar moved into the building, spotting a soldier sitting to the side. The carved skull on the faceplate of his EVA helmet drew her attention first. He sat sharpening a Kukri on his shoulder pauldron—a good use of equipment such as the expensive body armor. Shar stopped as an arm moved in her way. The first thing she noticed is that it was metal. She felt suddenly very aware of her own metal limb. It wasn't often that she met someone that had an arm like her. Shar turned her attention to the Spartan attached to the arm and she recognized the woman right way. The memory of standing over her and threatening her flashed through her mind. Catherine, a fellow Beta Spartan. If Kat remembered Shar, she didn't show it. It was likely that she wouldn't. Shar had never really been close to anyone from Beta Company. She was vaguely aware, and jealous, that Kat wore blue armor. She actually liked the light shade of the color that the Lieutenant Commander had chosen.

Kat turned to a figure also in blue armor, but a darker blue. "Commander."

The man turned around to face Shar. She knew right away that he was the leader of the team. He looked every bit the part. His features were strong, only one scar along his cheek. Even his armor seemed to scream that he was the leader. Another figure sat to the side and stared at her. Shar recognized him right away and was a bit worried that he would recognize her. It was Jorge, a Spartan II that she had worked with in the past. His armor seemed to be twice as large as all the other Spartans and he looked to be more machine than man.

"So that's our new number six." Jorge's voice seemed intrigued, but if he remembered her, his tone didn't give it away. Shar supposed it was better that he didn't remember her.

Shar took a step forward, as though to show that he was correct. She was their new Noble Six. It wasn't a position that she was thrilled about, but any chance to fight was a chance to make a difference, so she'd get used to it.

"Kat, you read her file?" the EVA helmeted Spartan asked.

"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink." Shar knew that Kat might be lying. The woman's ability to get into any information was legendary among the Beta Company. Shar had no doubt that Kat had read every word of her file. Though from the way that Kat spoke she didn't remember training with Shar. Did no one remember her?

Carter seemed uninterested in the conversation, though an exhale that Shar barely noticed hinted that he too didn't believe Kat. He turned back to the screen. "Anyone claim responsibility, sir?"

"_ONI thinks it might be local Insurrectionists." _Shar scowled at the idea of Insurrectionists on Reach. It was a military planet—the people owed all they had to the UNSC. It would be illogical for them to fight against it. _"Five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, and then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One._"

Shar stiffened at the mention of Harmony. It had once been her home and she knew that the UNSC had been using it as a place to hide away damaged ships after fights with the Covenant. She banished the thoughts of her fallen home to the back of her mind. The Colonel was right. Reach was too important. She needed to keep her head in the game.

"Sir, consider it done," Carter replied.

"_Then I'll see you on the other side. Holland out." _The connection cut and the Spartans started to move. Jorge and Emile stood up while Carter picked up his helmet.

Carter turned around, setting his full attention on Shar. "Lieutenant."

"Commander, Sir." Shar stood a bit at ease. There was something intimidating yet friendly about the Commander that Shar had to admire.

Jorge and Emilte started to move toward the door joining up with Kat at the exit. "I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader." She was already well aware of this but knew better then to comment. "That's Kat, Noble Two." So then Catherine was his second in command. She had to admit it seemed right. Though Shar honestly hoped that Carter paid more attention to her then her team in Beta Company had. "Emile and Jorge, Four and Five." Shar made a note of the EVA-helmeted Spartan's name. She already knew Jorge, knew that he was good in combat. "You're riding with me, Noble Six." For a moment Shar wasn't sure who he was talking to. She remembered that she was now Six. That would take some getting used to.

The Spartans moved out of the building, Emile, Kat, and Jorge making their way to one Falcon while Carter lead Shar. He slipped on his helmet as they moved down the stairs. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutnant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled." Shar felt a bit of dread. She was new to being on a team, and on top of that the team didn't want her there. She wondered for a moment what had happened to make them want to keep the spot vacant. Shar followed Carter to the second falcon where the green-armored Spartan, scout helmet now securely on, was waiting.

Shar climbed into the falcon as Carter continued. "Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing. I've seen your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. I'm glad to have your skill set, but we're a team. That lone wolf stuff stays behind, clear?"

Great, first day on the team and she was being lectured. She could work as a team if she needed to; she just worked better on her own. She wasn't going to argue, though. Something Carter made her unwilling to argue. "Got it, sir." She sat down in her seat and waited for them to take off.

The green-armored soldier turned and Shar noticed the identification tag which marked him as Jun. Short and sweet, an easy name to remember. "Welcome to Reach." The sniper's voice had an accent that Shar was unfamiliar with. She simply nodded to him as the falcon took off. This was definitely going to be an adventure.


	2. Winter Contingnecy Part 1

Winter Contingency

Shar sat back in the falcon, watching as the cliff sides passed them. She had to admit that Reach was a beautiful planet.

"Listen up, Noble Team." Shar's attention snapped to Carter in front of her as he briefed the team. "We're looking at a downed relay outpost, fifty klicks from Visegrad. We're going to introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, then Kat's going to get it back online." Shar noted that he was staring across the way at the other falcon.

"_Just get me under the hood, Commander._" There was no doubt in Kat's mind that she could get it done with ease. It was evident in her calm tone and speech. Shar couldn't help but smile slightly. If there was anyone that could manipulate tech with ease it was Kat.

"Sir, why would Rebels want to cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?" Jorge's question was a good one. Sure Innies might not like the UNSC, but keeping Reach in contact with the rest of the fleet kept them safe from worrying about the Covenant. It wasn't very logical.

"You get a chance, maybe you can ask them, Jorge." Carter's answer wasn't really an answer. It didn't give any concrete understanding or ease the question for Shar's mind now that it was there.

"Commander, we just lost our signal with HQ." Kat fiddled with a datapad in her hand.

Carter turned to look in her direction. "Back up Channels?"

"Searching." There was a pause before Kat continued. "Nada. Can't say what's jamming us." Her arms went a bit limp, helpless to do much of anything about it.

"You heard her." Carter's voice was hard and cold, ready for a fight. "Dead zone confirmed. Command will not be keeping us company this trip."

"I'm lonely already." Shar smirked at Emile's words. The EVA-helmeted Spartan definitely had a way with timing.

The falcons eased in above the relay station. "Shoot down attempts are likely, so keep your distance." Carter warned the pilot.

"Yes, sir." There was something in the pilot's voice that made Shar sure he was glad he wasn't going to be forced to get too close. Might be still green, fresh out of boot for all she knew.

"There's the communications outpost." Jorge's words brought Shar's attention to the sky where she saw the large outline of the satellite dish that indicated their destination.

"Reading a distress beacon," Kat alerted them. Shar looked down toward what appeared to be a warthog on fire where a nav marker appeared, indicating she was 72 meters away from the beacon.

"Could be the missing troopers. Let's check it out." Carter didn't sound like he believed even his own words. The falcons angled and slowly started to descend. "Put us down on the bluffs."

The falcons did as they were ordered and they moved to the top of the bluffs where there was enough room for both to land.

Carter turned toward the sniper Spartan. "Jun, I want your eyes in the sky."

"Sir." Jun's tone made it obvious he was often in the skies above rather than on the ground with the team. Shar couldn't imagine being like that. She loved to kill her enemies on the ground, get up close and personal and make sure every single one suffered.

The falcons landed and Carter stood, jumping out of the falcon. "Let's go, Six." Shar got up and exited the falcon, landing beside the Commander. "All right, Noble Team, spread out, watch the approach." Carter motioned the falcons to move off and the team to head down the bluffs. Kat did one quick check over her arm and the team was off.

Shar moved off, running straight through the gardens that covered the area around her. She didn't know exactly what they were growing but they looked like red tinted lettuce to her. She spotted Emile as he quickly climbed a large rock, taking part as lookout. Shar stopped long enough to let Carter and Kat take the lead ahead of her. She forgot, she had forgotten—she had a team, she couldn't run off on her own.

"_Structure Point 3-4, looks clear from this angle_." Emile leapt down from the large rock, easily landing on his feet.

"Distress beacon is coming from just south of her, Commander. We're close." Kat took the lead ahead of Carter as they ran down the hillsides. Shar cut down along the ledges that had been made so more gardens could be cultivated. She reached the location of the beacon and swept the area, finding nothing.

Emile landed on the ground near the burning warthog, moving over to a broken-up pile of wood as Kat and Carter arrived. Kat stood behind him, watching as he grabbed something from the debris. "Found the beacon." Emile picked up the brightly-colored item and tossed it over his shoulder.

Kat easily caught it, examining the beacon. Carter glanced over to her, tearing his gaze from the burning warthog. "Make out any ID?"

Kat looked it over for any markings, "Negative, but it's military." She dropped the beacon to the ground.

"_So where are the troopers?_" It took a moment for Shar to recognize the voice of Jorge. She had thought he'd be on the ground with them but she'd almost forgotten he was part of the team at all at this point.

"Why are we not seeing explosive residue?" Leave it up to Kat to find a question that Shar wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to. There was a burning warthog, and she didn't want to think of what else besides explosives could cause it to catch fire.

"Noble Three, can you confirm any 'ex residue in the area?" Shar took a fraction of a second to realize that Carter was talking to Jun. She really needed to get used to this.

"_Hmm." _Jun paused for a moment, likely checking some sort of equipment. "_Negative, sir._"

It was not the answer that Shar wanted to hear. Then Emile spoke what she was sure they were all thinking. "Plasma, maybe."

"_Can't be. Not on Reach._" Shar didn't want to admit it, but she hoped Jorge was right. The idea of the Covenant here, it was unsettling.

"There's a _lot_ of blood on the ground." Emile was staring at the concrete, studying the red splatters.

"All right, Noble, looks like there's nothing here. Let's move on." Carter's words were all that Shar needed. She took off in the only direction that seemed to lead anywhere.

"Smoke at the next structure, Boss." Kat's words were followed by some sort of bird screeching close to Shar.

"Circle west and check it out. Noble Team: you have permission to engage, but be selective. We don't need to telegraph our presence." Shar had to admit that Carter was right. Luckily, she had plenty of skill in not telegraphing where she was.

Two ostrich-like birds ran out of the brush. Shar punched each one of them, figuring better safe than sorry. Emile ran past her and glanced back. She could swear he was smirking at her. Shar fell into line behind them as they moved toward the structure. The path wound around the back of the structure, to a large drop off. Shar put the realization of how long a fall it was to the back of her mind. She moved past Emile and up a set of stairs.

"Noble Six, move into the house. Go in quiet. Right behind you." Shar moved into the building, checking through the darkness but finding not even a hint of movement. She stopped and waited for Carter and Kat to move ahead of her before they all made their way out of the broken front of the building.

"_Noble Leader, I'm seeing heat-sigs in the structure ahead_." Jun's warning came just as Jorge moved toward them from where his falcon had dropped him and a door slid open.

A man moved out of the house, hands up and dressed in civilian clothing. He said something in a language that Shar didn't recognize. She only knew it was the native tongue of the area.

"Move! On your knees, _now_!" Emile kept his shotgun steady on them as the man flinched back.

The man said something quickly in the native language and Jorge seemed to relax a little. "They're not rebels, they're farmers. Look at them."

Shar stayed in her position in front of the broken doorway while Kat watched the main gate and Carter turned to watch the bridge, which led away. "Ask him what they're doing here." Carter didn't sound as convinced as Jorge that they were not rebels.

Jorge relayed the message. Shar hadn't known he could speak the language. The farmer replied and Jorge translated. "Hiding, sir. Neighbors were attacked last night." Shar wondered what they'd been attacked by. "He heard screams, gunfire. It stopped around sunrise." The man choked out one last thing. To Shar, even not understanding the words, she could tell the man was heartbroken. "He says something in the fields…killed his son."

"Some_thing_?" Carter sound unsettled by the wording. It caught Shar's attention as well.

"_Commander, be advised. I'm reading heat signatures in the structure directly east from our position. Over_." Jun's voice sounded a bit hurried.

"Copy that." Carter turned to Jorge. "Get them back inside."

Jorge shouted something to the farmers in the native tongue and they all moved back into the building. Kat and Carter took off toward the building, Shar once more falling into line behind them. "Noble team, double time it." Carter started to sprint forward.

Shar activated the override that Kat had built into all of their suits and took off after Noble One and Two. They reached the structure in a few seconds and Carter moved inside. Shar and Kat stood in the doorway, looking at the scene before them.

"Damn…" Shar had to agree with Carter as she took in the scene before them. There were four dead civilians up against what looked to be palettes of bags of mulch. What really caught her eye was a pair of troopers. One sat on the ground, dead, and leaning against some sort of container. The other was hanging on the wall on a set of hooks that were usually used for tools.

"_Fill me in, Commander, what are you seeing? Over_." It was obvious that Jun was frustrated he couldn't see inside of the building.

Carter's posture became slumped and his voice echoed a hint of regret that he couldn't save them. "We've got military casualties, two of the missing troopers." He knelt down before the bodies, examining the scene closer. "Looks like they were interrogated… It's messy." That was one word for it for sure.

Carter checked the hallway ahead and Shar moved in. She found one more civilian slumped over against some railing at the end of a ramp. She wondered what had killed all of them. She moved further in and something echoed as it hit the roof.

"Movement. Watch your motion trackers." Carter's words brought Shar's attention to her tracker. It showed a single contact, above them.

Shar moved out into the courtyard and looked up just in time to see a sleek small figure leap skillfully through the sky. "What the hell was that?" Shar echoed Emile's question in her mind. She didn't recognize the glimpse, but she was sure it wasn't human.

"Jun, you see anything?" Carter's voice was quiet, trying not to give away their position.

There was a pause before Jun replied. "_Negative. Thermal's clean._" Shar didn't care if the thermals were clean, she knew that she saw something. Carter and Shar moved into the building and Shar moved ahead. "Boss, I see movement, outside your structure!" Shar turned and spotted it, a skirmisher, needle rifle in hand on the room outside.

"Noble Two, move up to the west. We're about to be flanked," Carter ordered.

Shar fired and a single round from her pistol tore through the alien's head, dropping it. Jorge let out a sound of surprise and Emile cursed. Jorge shouted the one word that was burning now in Shar's mind. "Covenant."


	3. Winter Contingency Part 2

Memories of all her previous engagements with the alien juggernaut flashed through her mind; finding out her father had died, and her mother's death. It lit the flame inside her that could only be extinguished by the blood of her enemies. "Contact, contact! Spartans, assist!" Carter's voice pulled her out of her memories. Shar broke the window as Carter took a step back to get a better view of the situation. "They're heading into the basement. Move down to the lower levels!"

Shar didn't need to be told twice. She moved through a doorway with Kat on her heels. She only stopped long enough to grab a couple grenades before moving down the stairs. She lobbed a grenade and it killed two of the skirmishers. Shar hung back and fired at the skirmishers as Kat and Carter made their way down the stairs. She hit one of the skirmishers with a headshot before moving after the Commander.

"Banshees! Heads up, Charlie One!" The pilot sounded surprised, but oddly calm as he moved into aerial combat with the alien enemy.

Shar moved to stand beside Carter and Kat, shooting into the grunts that were milling around the area, shooting wildly. She shot a couple before just running forward and slamming her fist or gun into whatever got close enough. She killed two grunts and a skirmisher before turning to find a single skirmisher trying to run off. She aimed and fired, putting a shot through the vulture-like head. She then turned to face the final grunt, moving forward and cracking its skull open with the butt of her gun.

"Noble Leader, enemy dropships inbound!" Jun warned. Great, more Covies to slaughter.

"Falcon moving to assist." The pilot didn't sound stressed and there seemed to be nothing in the sky. She felt a bit more comfortable now knowing that their rides could handle themselves.

Shar moved toward where the ships were landing and spotted a pair of grunts. Two fast shots and both of them were down. The team moved down toward the bridge. Shar hung back a bit and took aim as the grunts started to move toward them. She took down one of them and the second jumped up onto a concrete barrier right before Kat. The Lieutenant Commander fired and the alien dropped.

The team advanced and Shar moved up along the east, firing at whatever got in her way. She spotted a pair of skirmishers and, knowing they would be a bigger issue, concentrated on one of them. She fired and shots hit the alien in the side and shoulder. Shar tossed a grenade and it bounced a bit before going off, taking out the alien. Shar swapped out her magazine and moved back. She moved around the area to make her way up the west side of the enemy's ranks. She fired at a group of grunts and soon only a single skirmisher was left. She raced forward and slammed her elbow into the alien's neck, killing it.

"Stand down, Noble, stand down. Contacts neutralized." Carter's words were all that Shar needed to snap herself back to where she was. She hadn't even thought about the fact that there were other Spartans around when she'd attacked.

"Contacts? It's the damn Covenant." Jorge sounded particularly upset about the development.

"Cheer up, big man: this whole valley just turned into a free-fire zone." Shar had to admit she liked the way that Emile thought. That was the bright side. That and that they'd get to kill more Covenant.

"Kat, we've got to warn Holland. I need you at that relay outpost now." The Commander's words were forceful, leaving no chance for argument, which Shar was fairly certain he often got from the Beta company Spartan.

"Boss, I'm showing more activity to the east!" Shar scanned the area, turning east at Jun's warning.

"Copy that, Jun, we're on it. Six, you've got point." Shar grinned at Carter's command. She'd get to be first into the fight. Shar raced forward across a shallow river and spotted a group of grunts. She fired, each shot taking down an enemy.

"Might not be all of them, stay sharp." Shar followed the Spartan II and his words were quickly made true as a trio of ultra-ranked elites appeared, running toward them.

Shar tossed a plasma grenade and got lucky, sticking it to the heel of one of the elites. It exploded and Shar fired a single shot, killing the seven-foot-tall alien. The remaining two fired on Emile and Kat. One smacked its plasma rifle against Emile's skull, stunning him. It tried to kick at him but the Spartan ducked down.

Shar used it as her chance to move up to the distracted second elite and hit it, taking down its energy shield. She followed it up quickly by slamming her second fist into its chest, feeling bone break as it fell to the ground. Shar turned her attention to the last elite. Together, she, Kat, and Emile took it down with combined fire.

A falcon landed and Jun's voice crackled over the radio. "Commander, I'm seeing more hostile activity to the northeast."

"Emile, you're with Kat. Six and I will run interference on the ground. We'll meet you at the outpost. Get to work, Noble." At the orders Shar fell into line behind Carter.

Shar, Jorge, and Carter made their way to an abandoned work vehicle. Jorge climbed onto the back, setting his turret up so he could swing it around and fire at enemies, while Carter moved into the passenger seat. Shar hit the accelerator and they bounced off along the road. They moved through a pack of moa before Carter announced that there were contacts ahead. Shar didn't stop, splattering one of the skirmishers ahead of them against the hood of the car.

She sped the car on, passing a second pair of skirmishers, only stopping when they reached a building and Jun announced that he was picking up heat signatures. Shar jumped out of the vehicle and moved toward the structure. She spotted a trio of grunts. Three shots and they were down. A skirmisher appeared to her right and she fired once, killing it but revealing a minor elite behind it at the top of some stairs. She tossed a grenade and the blue ball landed near the top of the stairs. It went off and she moved forward. It took three shots from her pistol and some fire from Shar's right from either Carter or Jorge, she wasn't sure which, before it fell. Shar then moved across the area to the grunts that were running for their lives. She killed each one of them.

Carter announced that they were clear and the trio moved back to their transport. They took off down the road and once more Shar slammed the car into one of a pair of skirmishers. They passed a group of grunts before finding another pair of skirmishers and splattering one more.

"Noble Leader, I'm picking up a distress signal," Jun warned.

A voice filled Shar's ear, an unfamiliar and slightly frightened voice. "Mayday! Three Charlie Six, does anyone read? We are attacked by Covenant forces. The Covenant is on Reach. I repeat: The Covenant is on Reach!"

Shar spotted a Covenant troop transport and gunned it toward where it seemed to be landing. "The troopers?" Shar wanted to reach back and smack Jorge at that moment. Who else did it sound like it was?

"Let's move, Six. We've got to find the source of that distress call." There was a determination in Carter's words that Shar had to admit she liked. Maybe he was remembering those interrogated troopers, determined to protect these ones.

"No disrespect, but don't we have better things to do than round up strays?" Shar couldn't really believe the words that Jun had said. Since when were other troopers strays?

"We don't leave people behind. You see those troopers, you let me know." Just as Carter finished his words the car moved over a hill and a group of soldiers became visible. "Noble Three, we've located the trooper squad. Request immediate evac. My coordinates."

"Solid copy, Commander. Recalling Falcon Charlie 2. Hold that evac position."

Shar moved out of the vehicle and slunk back into the building the troopers were using as their rally point. She took aim and fired at the Covenant that were firing toward the troopers. She was deliberate with her shots, being sure to make each one count. She ran out of pistol ammunition and grabbed a DMR from the ground, her favorite weapon. She killed off the last of the grunts.

"Noble Leader, be advised: I have visual on inbound Covenant dropships."

"Evac transport, keep your distance! Six, hold this position. Clear an LZ." Carter didn't have to tell Shar twice. She moved back into the structure a bit for cover.

"Spartans? Corporal Travis, Three Charlie, sir. It's the Covenant." The trooper sounded shaken, whether by the Covenant or seeing a Spartan, Shar wasn't sure.

"We know Corporal. Let's get you out of here." Carter was calm and the words seemed to ease away the fears of some of the soldiers.

A soldier shouted about an incoming dropship which was soon followed by Jun warning them as well. Shar moved out of cover and opened fire with her assault rifle. She took out several grunts before moving back as a second dropship appeared and she took cover while its turret blasted the ground. Shar. She cleared the west side of the field first, taking out the officer elite before turning to focus on the ultra elite. Shar exhausted an entire clip of ammunition into the alien before its shield finally fell and her fist connected with the side of its skull, breaking bone. She checked the area and found it clear.

"Transport, LZ is clear. Move in for evac." Carter moved away from the structure and out into the open.

"Affirmative. Transport inbound." The two falcons appeared and the Spartan piled up into one of them.

Carter radioed Kat. "Noble Two, sit-rep."

There was a moment's pause before Kat replied. "We're at the relay outpost. Door's locked. Mechanism's been flash-fused." She sounded frustrated.

"Can you beat it?" Shar was surprised by Carter's question. When was there ever a bit of technology that Kat couldn't beat?

"I'll dial up my torch, cut a way through. Going to take some time." Now her annoyance was obvious, though Shar guessed it was partially due to the questioning of her abilities.

"Okay." The word was a bit quiet out of the Commander. He must have known she was insulted. "We're en route to your location." Shar faced forward, but glanced at the two men across from her. It was more amusing for her as Jorge was obviously so much taller than Carter, even sitting down. Was there really that much of a difference between the first and second generation of Spartans?

Shar caught a red dot on her motion tracker and turned toward it, searching for an enemy, but finding nothing. She spotted their target ahead. "We're approaching the com outpost." The pilot sounded slightly nervous once more.

"Drop us in the courtyard," Carter ordered.

"LZ's a little hot, sir." The pilot was definitely scared.

"Put her down, pilot. Six, break's over." Carter shifted in his seat and the falcon finally landed. The Spartans piled out and moved down the ramp. Shar opened fire, clearing out the area before moving to where Kat was crouched. Carter stood behind her with Emile to his right.

"How we doing, Kat?" Carter seemed impatient. This wasn't the best place to have to defend.

"Taking a little longer then I hoped, Commander. I've cut about halfway through the door." Kat was calm and cool, as Shar should have expected. She was elbow deep in tech, the woman's loved hobby.

Emile shouted that there were more contacts. "Hold them off until Kat can hack the controls." A dropship appeared and there was only a moment of hesitation from Carter before he followed Emile out into the courtyard to meet the enemy. Jorge fired into the sky as the ship dropped down. A group of grunts with an elite minor were dropped down from one side. Shar took aim and easily took down the grunts. With some extra fire from Jorge they made quick work of the elite as well. She took care of the remaining two grunts that were making their way down the ramp toward her location.

Shar moved back and grabbed a bit of extra ammunition from a rack of DMRs on the wall before moving back to the doorway where she spotted a second dropship. It dropped jackals and she opened fire, having a bit of trouble before falling into the rhythm of shooting the foot and then the head as they shouted in pain, giving the opening. She'd taken out most of the grunts when another elite minor appeared.

Shar opened fire on the alien. "Kat?" Carter questioned.

"Just about…there! We're in!" The triumph was clear in her voice.

"Everybody inside! Go, go, go!" Carter moved through the doorway followed by Jorge and Emile. Shar moved to the door and took out the elite minor before the large metal closed. She heard the bolts slide into place as the door locked behind them. Shar clicked on her night vision and moved to the other doorway in the room. It opened and Shar moved in. She checked the area, making a few turns and finding a body on the ground.

"Noble Six, search that body." It was an order, and something felt odd about it having come from Kat. Shar didn't argue or fight it, she moved to the body.


	4. Winter Contingency Part 3

Shar stood beside the body, looking up as Carter spoke. "Where's the rest of your unit?" There was a living trooper.

"We got split. I don't think they…It sounded bad on the comms." Shar bit her lip. It was always hard knowing that your fellow soldiers were likely dead.

Shar knelt down and started to search the body. "All right, Corporal, stay put. We'll get you a combat surgeon." It surprised Shar just a bit how calm and soothing that Carter could be at times. It was likely that the trooper wouldn't make it, but she was sure at that moment he believed he would.

Shar moved the body and something fell out of its jacket. "Damn." Shar looked up at Kat's back. "Plasma damage."

Shar reached down and grabbed the data module. She held it up to the Lieutenant Commander. "Found something." Knowing Kat, the new find out be enough to take her mind off the damage.

"I'll take that, Six." Kat snatched the module from Shar's hand. "Not your domain."

"I've got a live one over here." The announcement caused them all to turn toward Jorge. He was pulling a young woman out of the shadows. "Come on, out you come." The woman banged her fist against Jorge's chest plate and shouted something in the native language. "It's all right, we're not going to hurt you." Shar had to admit it didn't look that way. A walking tank pulling her forcefully out of the shadows.

"Jorge." Carter's tone was warning.

"I've got her." Jorge set down his machine gun and grabbed the woman by the arms. "Keep still and I'll release you." The woman said something quietly which Shar didn't understand.

Jorge stiffened and an elite dropped from above. An energy sword flared to life and it swung. Jorge ducked, pulling the woman down with him. The elite then turned to the rest of Noble Team while two more elites appeared.

"What's your status, over?" Emile sounded panicked, though Shar guessed it was more because he was missing the fight.

"We've been engaged!" Carter opened fire as the elite charged them. It swung at Kat but Carter moved, pulling her down and protecting her. Shar opened fire on the elite, hoping to get its attention. It charged toward her, knocking Shar to the ground.

"Bad guy coming out!" Carter warned.

One of the lower-class elites appeared over Shar and grabbed her, pulling back its bladed arm to strike. She held it off, fist slamming into the side of its head. The elite roared, spreading its mandibles. Carter's foot stuck the elite's side and it rolled off of Shar. The alien scooted back as its shield flared. The alien turned and ran. Carter kicked an assault rifle across the floor and Shar grabbed it. It only had seven shots left but the elite didn't need to know that. She aimed it at the pair of elites who were using the trooper as a human shield.

"That tango blew past me. Permission to pursue?" Emile was obviously itching to go after it.

"Negative Four, stay on the entrance. Two, handle her." Kat nodded and moved back to the woman. "Five and Six, clear the hole." Shar reloaded her weapon and moved forward, Jorge behind her. She turned to watch as the Spartan II shut the door on them. She wanted to make a joke about how it was old times, but she wasn't allowed to talk about those times. Damn black ink.

Shar grabbed a DMR from the wall and watched as Jorge tossed a flare. A zealot appeared and Shar concentrated fire on it. Before she could break through it slipped behind some boxes for cover. Jorge moved forward, concentrating on the smaller aliens. The elite moved out of cover and Shar fired, one shot to finish it's shield and a second through the head to kill it. She then focused fully on the smaller aliens with Jorge. Shar tossed a grenade, taking out two of the jackals, easily taking out the last one and the remaining grunts.

They cleared the next area just as easily, making their way down the hallway and killing the four grunts that were standing around. She moved down a ramp, Jorge behind her. "There's more. Flush 'em out, I've got you covered." Oddly, she didn't feel very covered at the moment, despite Jorge's words.

Shar took aim and, as the grunts moved out of the doorway, took each out with a headshot. She looked down into the gap between the two areas and smiled as she spotted an old friend. Shar jumped down and quickly dropped her assault rifle in favor of the shotgun that was on the ground beside a fallen soldier. She turned and made her way up the stairs, toward her target. An elite raced toward her, sword in hand. She waited and then moved forward, firing once and taking down the elite's shield. It roared in anger and she fired a second time, sending the corpse flying back. Shar spotted a few fallen civilians in the room before moving in.

"Kat needs you to reset a junction. Do it and get back up here." Shar spotted what Carter was referring to and quickly reset it.

~Later~

Kat unscrewed the access panel and forcefully pulled it from its place. "How long?" Carter was leaning to the side, trying to look inside.

Kat reached into the wires and pulled out several parts of it. "Question of my life. If the question is when will this station be back online," she looked back at Carter. "Two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage. All major uplink components are fried."

Carter leaned in closer. "Two minutes is too long."

"Which is why I'm splicing into the main overland bundle to get you a direct line to Colonel Holland." Kat knew that he didn't really understand what she was doing, using simple terms to make it a bit more understandable. She glanced back at the Commander who was hovering over her shoulder. "You're in my light, Commander." Her tone was slightly scolding.

Carter took a step back turning to Jorge. "Find out what she knows." The order was short and sharp. Shar smiled to herself. Someone didn't like being scolded.

Jorge moved over to the girl and knelt down. His hand touched her shoulder and she shrugged it off. Emile chuckled to himself. "What's your name? Do you live around here?" Shar watched Jorge as he questioned the woman. It was odd, he was more tank then most of them but seemed more gentle most of the time. He had proven to be very friendly back when she'd last worked with him. Jorge removed his helmet, something Shar found very odd. To show your face to a civilian was never anything that Shar could approve of. Other military, maybe, but not civilian.

Jorge said something in the native tongue and the only thing that Shar understood was the Spartan II's name. Shar only half listened to the conversation. She'd never been big on small talk. The only thing she really got from it was that the woman was the daughter of the dead man.

Emile turned to Six. "Big man forgets what he is sometimes." Shar had to agree with him. A Spartan was a Spartan, and Jorge was acting more like a regular soldier then a Spartan at the moment.

Jorge moved up beside Emile and feinted as though he were about to strike him. "She just lost her father." Jorge's words were ice in the air. He turned to Carter relaxed. "She needs a full psychiatric workup."

"She's not the only one," Emile snapped.

Jorge turned to argue back but Carter stopped them. "Lock it down, both of you! Get her on her feet…the body stays here."

"Thank you, sir." Jorge turned and passed Emile, shooting him a glare. Shar got the feeling this wasn't a fight that was new to them. Jorge moved over to the woman and helped her to her feet.

"Signal. It's patchy, but it's there." Kat stood up and Noble Team started to leave. Jun took the lead with Jorge and the woman behind him, Emile following close behind the pair.

"I'll take it." Carter reached up, removing his helmet.

Kat shifted her weight onto her right leg, leaning a bit toward Carter. "Best not touch anything. You wouldn't want to ground this place." Shar glanced back at them. Leave it to Kat to get in one more jab about how she was better at something then her Commander. She always did have a bit of a problem with authority.

Carter watched them leave before he moved to the terminal. "I'm barely getting you. What's your situation?" The voice of the Colonel filtered through the radio. Even as she walked away Shar could hear them.

"Colonel, this is Noble One. There are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach. Acknowledge?" Carter's voice enforced how serious the situation was.

"Come Again, Noble One? Did you say Covenant?" The officer sounded surprised.

"Affirmative. It's the WINTER CONTINGENCY."


	5. ONI Sword Base Part 1

ONI: Sword Base

Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz

July 26, 2552, 11:26 Hours

Shar shifted uncomfortably in the falcon. She didn't like being inactive, just sitting around. She stared out the side of the craft at the moon, still trying to hide down under the horizon. The large sphere was slightly shrouded in the light of the sun and the cloud cover around the distant mountains. It all looked so calm and peaceful, but Shar knew better. They were on their way to combat where there was no calm and peaceful, only noisy and dangerous.

Shar glanced around the, first at Jorge who was staring down, seeming to be a bit uneasy. As she understood, he was from Reach, or at least he felt he was. She was never sure if the Spartan IIs were actually from Reach, or just felt it was their home. Either way, she knew it was important to him anyway and he was obviously nervous. Shar turned her attention to Kat. The Lieutenant Commander slipped the data module into her datapad and got to work. Shar didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she was fairly certain she was accessing the data, by force if needed. Shar had nothing to do, and just sat there, DMR loosely in hand.

The radio crackled to life and the voice of Sword Control filled Shar's helmet. "_Be advised, Kilo-three-three and Kilo-three-four, your current LZ is too hot._"

Shar glanced toward the other falcon where Carter was. "_Roger that. Dot, standby to receive and respond_." He sounded moderately annoyed; likely he had to change their plans a bit, but he could easily adapt. Kat had told her that Carter could think quick on his feet, and that his plans were solid. So far Shar had to agree.

A sweet female voice filled Shar's ears though there was a slightly robotic tint to her voice that gave away that it was an AI. "Yes, Commander…coordinates received. Initiate immediate course correction." The AI had been assigned to give orders to Noble Team. Shar didn't really know what to think of her. She hadn't really worked with AI often, but she did have a bit of a like for dumb AI. Dot, as the AI was called, had been pleasant and helpful, so as a result Shar was sort of starting to like her. "The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a corvette-class Covenant vessel." Shar glanced out of the side of the falcon where she could see the deadly alien cruiser hanging in the air. She'd seen them so many times before, though she still remembered that first time. The first time they had been so frightening, but now she was cold to the sight of them. "Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited." Shar frowned at that news. ONI was always so protective, but how many people would die because they were afraid to risk anything? How many marines' blood would soak the ground to destroy that cruiser? "Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful." Shar didn't mind the lack of information. She was used to working with limited information, as little as 'there are enemies and you have to kill them'. "However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword base." So they already had soldiers trying to defend the base. How bad was it that Spartans needed to be called in?

The falcons turned quickly as they neared their objective and Sword base came into view. "_All right people, we're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry—give those troopers a hand."_ Now that was something that Shar could get behind. She liked helping to lessen the amount of casualties.

The falcons swooped in over the courtyard and Shar spotted the troopers trying to fight back elites and jackals. Damn, this wasn't going to be too easy. She was snapped back to the task at hand. "_Kat, Six—you're out here. Jorge, Emile—you're next, get prepped_."

Shar looked to Kat, who prepared her pistol and readied to jump out. "Let's move, Lieutenant." Shar readied her DMR and in one fluid motion both Kat and Shar leapt from the falcon as it made a quick pass. They hit the ground and Shar glanced back to see their falcon already rising quickly away. Shar turned her attention back to the battle that lay ahead of her. She was ready for the fight, ready to remove the Covenant once more from human land. She felt the blood heat up in her veins and felt her heart start to beat a bit faster. The adrenaline was now pumping, and it wouldn't until every last Covenant was dead and that corvette was blown out of the sky.

Kat moved ahead as Shar lifted her DMR. The Lieutenant Commander crouched down as she moved forward. "_Kat, Six: Push back the attack on Sword Base, find out what we're dealing with_." Seemed reasonable. Mission: Find out what forces there were and take them out. That was the kind of mission Shar liked.

"Roger that, we're your strike team," Kat said. Shar took aim as a group of four grunts moved around concrete barriers. She took down the first three easily with headshots but the fourth turned to run. She shot it once in the back, causing it to falter and giving her the perfect chance to put a round through its head.

Sword Control once more echoed through her radio. "_Spartans, hostiles north."_ Shar moved into action. She moved up the west side ramp to have a higher point of view on her enemies and hopefully more cover.

Kat swapped out to her battle rifle, ready for a longer distance fight. "Let's knock some heads, Lieutenant!" Her voice was eager and a smile tugged at her lips. The two Spartans looked at each other for a fraction of a second, not long enough that anyone else would notice and exchanged unspoken words.

Let's knock some heads. The words echoed through Beta Company training, though it had been more often used by the female Spartans. They always used it when they were being set in missions against washed-out Alpha Company Spartans. It was a Beta way of them declaring that they would win, and prove that they were better than any Spartans before them. Shar supposed it was perfect for the situation. It was just the two of them, two female Beta Spartans, and they'd show the male Alpha Spartans, and the Spartan II, what Beta Company was made of.

Kat fell into line a bit behind Shar as she moved up the ramp. Shar reached the top and looked along the distance of the catwalk that lined the side of the base. There was only a single jackal with its back turned to her. With how they walked, Shar had to shoot it once in the back in order to get it to turn enough for her to shoot it again, the round punching through the bird-like alien's throat. There was a blast near Shar and her shields lowered slightly, enough to get her attention. She moved under a solid awning that led to the bridge connecting the West and East catwalks. The phantom passed overhead, moving to the most northern part of the catwalk.

Shar turned her attention to the troops already on the ground, as the phantom was no longer in a position it could fire on her. She did as she'd been trained to do and targeted the elites first. She spotted an officer surrounded by a group of jackals. They were taking cover behind a set of four deployable shields that had been set up in a semi-circle. She'd just gotten its shields down when a second officer moved up the side ramp and appeared right before her. Kat opened fire and the elite's shields flared. Shar tossed a grenade toward the enemy and it detonated behind the alien, weakening the shields further until Shar shot it once, dropping the shields. One last time put a round through its forehead.

Shar moved toward the ramp where a jackal was moving up to try to get away from the fire of the troopers. Shar shot it once, hitting in the shoulder, but it spun around putting the round shield between the Spartan and jackal. Shar moved forward, slamming the butt of her gun into the shield, overloading it and causing it to shut down. She then leveled her rifle and fired and it fell.

"_You've got enemy contacts, Spartans."_ The words of Sword Control pulled Shar back to the troops below. She moved back to where she had been and spotted the brilliant white armor of an ultra elite. She opened fire, being careful to keep the shots centered on the alien's head as best she could as it would lower the shield faster. She had to duck behind cover a few times as the jackals and grunts tried to fire on them and disrupted her from her target. Finally she saw the familiar pop of the energy shield go down and after quickly swapping out her empty clip for a new one, Shar took aim and put a bullet through the ultra's skull. The remaining minor and officer elite backpedaled to cover.

Shar moved a bit down the catwalk toward her target and saw the officer trying to crouch behind one of the concrete barriers. It was a bit silly as the alien was too large and stood out a foot over the cover even when fully crouched. She had fired a few shots, causing the officer to move to better cover, when plasma hit her from the left. She turned and found the minor elite running toward her. Shar opened fire. The first five shots took down the shield and the final shot tore through the alien's stomach and it fell. Shar quickly moved down the ramp to a jackal. The alien was stunned for a moment, until Shar's elbow hit its skull, caving it in.

The officer elite finally jumped out of cover, giving Shar a chance to attack. Unfortunately she'd exhausted her clip and had to reload. The elite was just about to fire when Kat came in from Shar's right, firing and causing the elite to move to cover once more. Shar took the chance to reload. Once she had a full clip she moved forward, spotting a couple of jackals. With ease, she slipped into the foot then head combo, killing both of the enemies. She then turned her attention to the elite. She moved around the collection of items the Covenant had been using as cover and found the officer, still being fired on by Kat. Shar only had to fire once before the shield dropped. The elite charged forward, too fast for Shar to aim and she instead instinctively stuck out, punching the alien in the throat, crushing its wind pipe. She turned to her left and found a single jackal slowly moving, as though it didn't know what to do. She shot its foot and it cried out in pain, giving Shar the chance to slam her fist into its chest, killing it. Shar inwardly cursed. She was out of DMR ammunition and had to switch out to her battle rifle.

Kat and Shar started to make their way down the northern ramp which led to a large set of doors when four skirmishers appeared. Shar opened fire with her rifle, cutting down the first one easily. She set her sights on the next one, exhausting her clip into its chest until it fell. The last two were standing side by side at the bottom of the ramp and Shar raced forward, quickly grabbing the opposite sides of each of the skirmisher's skulls and slamming them together.

"All clear." At Kat's words Shar took a moment to wipe the blood and bits of brain from her hands, and reload her rifle. "Noble Two to Sword Control: courtyard is clear, over." Shar continued to move down the ramp and quickly jumped over the concrete barriers that separated her from the familiar metal and cautionary lines of yellow and black. Something felt secure about how it reminded her of a UNSC ships. Metal walls, floor, and ceiling, cautionary lines, and as she could see it, a trio of ordnance packs.

"_Head to the main gate to the east, I'll brief you as you go_." Shar nearly snorted at Sword Controls' command. She was already there, and Kat was right behind her. Shar moved straight to the ordnance packs, eager to see what they might be. She stopped when she spotted a slightly unfamiliar device. It wasn't that she hadn't seen it, just that she didn't see it often.

Apparently Kat had a similar feeling. "Sword Control, I see a Target Locator. Any artillery support in the area?" Shar glanced back at the Lieutenant Commander and Kat nodded that she could have it. Shar quickly grabbed full DMR ammunition from one crate and dropped her battle rifle to grab the target locater. She remembered being taught about these back in training, though they'd been told it was unlikely they would really get to use them.

"_Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am_." Shar grinned at the words from Control. That meant that it would actually work. She couldn't wait to find something to unleash hell on.

Shar moved forward but stopped as she reached the final pack. She could hear the large metal doors opening before her but she had eyes only for the equipment before her. She quickly grabbed the device and worked on hooking it up. All Spartans had been taught the quick and easy instillation and it only took her a second. Sadly she wouldn't be able to access the safety overrides that Kat had built into her suit which allowed her to run for short distances quickly. It was worth it, though, as she loved this equipment.

Shar moved out of the structure and into the clear night and sandy brown grass. She wondered if that grass was dead, or if that was just the natural color. She was pulled out of her thoughts as a slightly worried voice came over the COM. "_3 Echo 57 heading back to base, but we got enemy tangos on our six. How copy?_"

Shar spotted the burning warthog and wondered how the driver could see anything with how damaged his vehicle was. That was when she spotted the shot coming from the south, in front of the troopers. Without thinking Shar took aim with the target locater. By the time she'd tagged the wraith she looked to the warthog and found it tumbling to a stop, a burning wreck. Shar watched as the fire started to fall and the first wraith was destroyed. The second slid, trying to get an angle on the troopers, but moved into the blast radius, destroying both vehicles. She'd heard it said that eye for an eye leaves us all blind, but two wraith tanks and the four aliens on board seemed like worth it to make up for the two marines who had just been killed.

Shar swapped out to her DMR and took aim on a minor elite that was running toward her with a trio of grunts. Four good shots and its shields were down. Two shots to the chest and it tumbled back, lifeless. The grunts pulled out grenades, ready to go suicidal but with a few quick shots they were down. The armed grenades soared into the air and landing nearby, detonating far away from the human soldiers.

"Pelican inbound with transport, Six." Shar looked up to the sky as the pelican eased in, dropping down a Warthog, gunner already hanging on tight to the rear turret. Shar moved to the driver's side and jumped in, looking over the controls quickly until Kat got into the passenger's seat.

"_The old Farragut Station has its own comms array, that should bring us back online with command. Airview Base has an anti-air-battery that will help clear the skies,_" Sword Control informed them.

"AA-gun is to the west, comms array to the east. Let's roll." Kat eased back in her seat, scanning the area for danger. Shar turned the car and headed toward the west. Kat nodded. "I agree, go for the gun."


	6. ONI Sword Base Part 2

ONI Sword Base part 2

The warthog bounced over the landscape. They reached the top of the hill to see three grunts and two ghosts waiting for them. Shar grumbled; she didn't have time for this. Rather than sit around and wait for the gunner to be able to kill them, she gunned it. The warthog crashed into a ghost causing the metal to dent and the controls to spark. The fire that erupted from it was enough to send the pilot grunt flying from the seat. Shar moved out of their view and the ghosts seemed not to want to give chase.

"I'm picking up a power source. We're close to the AA gun." Kat gripped her rifle a bit tighter and was at the ready.

The warthog moved over the next hill and Shar caught sight of the gun. There were two other structures nearby it, but what caught her eye was slight movement. Covenant. She sped forward, crossing a small shallow lake and making a pass of the gun to give the gunner a chance to take out some grunts. An elite darted out toward her and Shar turned, trying to get out of the way, but the warthog bounced and flipped. The three occupants were thrown clear of the vehicle. Shar quickly forced herself to get up from where she'd fallen, DMR at the ready, and she took aim at the officer elite who had caused her to crash. She prepared to fire but found herself being assaulted by a minor who moved out from behind the gun. She quickly dispatched the minor while the trooper pulled himself together and, with combined fire from Kat, took out the officer. There was a group of three grunts standing at the entry way to one of the structures and Shar opened fire, felling them with headshots. She noticed a marked enemy above her on her motion tracker and prepared for whatever it was.

Shar moved out of the side door and up the stairs toward whatever was on the roof. She found herself faced with an ultra elite. It swung and the alien's concussion rifle hit her, but not without her own fist hitting the side of the elite's face. They both backed away from each other but Shar was quicker to fire, taking down the elite's shields and shooting it in the head. She quickly activated the AA gun and moved over to a box of DMR ammunition to stock up. The Gun opened fire on a nearby phantom and Shar jumped down from the roof, quickly dispatching the grunts who were still standing around, who were not exactly sure what to do with no leader. That was when she spotted the shadow.

The AA gun had turned and was firing on a spirit dropship which had come in over the rocky walls around them. Shar watched as the sides opened and four grunts with two special operations elites dropped out. Shar moved around the gun and took aim. She opened fire on the special operation elites who tried to move to cover behind the warthog. Shar vaguely wondered who had flipped it back over. What the elites weren't counting on was Kat to get on the gun. She opened fire and cut down the shields of one elite, allowing Shar to shoot through its dome helmet. Kat then got off of the hog as the second elite tried to move around and attack her. Shar took a quick moment to dispatch the grunts, killing each with a swift shot to the head. After all, grunts were made to be shot in the head.

Shar looked over to see the special-ops elite manning the gun on the warthog. It released it though as Kat had moved close enough to the vehicle that it couldn't shoot at her. Shar ran in and with some helping fire from Kat dropped the elite's shieldn giving Shar an opening to shoot it through the throat.

Kat got back onto the Warthog's gun. "Neutralize those vehicles, now."

Shar tuned, having not actually realized that there were any vehicles, but she spotted them soon enough. Two ghosts piloted by grunts. Kat drew their fire while Shar ran forward. One of them broke off and moved directly toward Shar. The next few seconds were pure instinct. She dropped her DMR and grabbed a plasma pistol, quickly charging it up. The ghost moved past her and she fired. A ball of brilliant green light hit the ghost and sparks of blue electricity ran over it as the vehicle lost power. Without hesitation Shar ran forward, grabbing onto the vehicle. She climbed up on the hood and kicked, her foot connecting with the skull of the grunt. It went flying and with ease and practice Shar jumped, turning in air and landed perfectly in the pilot's seat. She turned to face the second ghost and opened fire just as the grunt did. The two ghosts charged forward, but Shar's was in better shape. As they hit, bits and pieces flew from the enemy ghost, including its pilot. Shar abandoned her own ghost as the trooper shouted that they were clear.

She then quickly moved back, dropping the plasma pistol to retrieve her DMR. It felt good to have human weaponry in her hand again. "_Nice work, Spartans. Get to Farrgut Station and get that comms array up and running." _Sword Control was really starting to get on Shar's nerves. She knew what she was supposed to do. What they'd been told wasn't an either or, it was a which one first.

Shar moved to their hog and frowned as she looked at the beat up vehicle. It might not last them long if they came under bad fire. She glanced over to her left and saw the pelican dropping in. "_Spartans, this is Sword Control. Thought you could use some mobile firepower._" Sword Control must have been able to read Shar's thoughts, because at the sight of the new hog Shar felt less like hating them.

"Always. Take that hog, Six." Kat ran toward the hog along with Shar. Once more Shar got into the driver's seat and Kat in the passenger's. There was already an eager marine manning the gun. The warthog roared to life as Shar moved over the landscape. She moved down a hill to where two ghosts were waiting. Once more she simply passed them by, braking hard as she made a sharp turn. There was a spirit dropping in and she was trying to avoid being hit by it.

She managed to point in the right direction and moved up the hill. At the top she found a set of structures. If seen from above they would look like two parts of a circle. They looked so old, yet she knew there was working comms in there. She supposed it was a good place to hide tech, no one would expect it.

Shar moved along a ridge to the west of the buildings and got out. She heard a sound, one she hadn't heard in a while. "Let's search the area for a generator switch." The Spartan IIIs jumped out of the hog and moved up onto a pile of rocks to look down. The revenant hovered below, looking for a target. Shar switched out to her target locater and took aim. She tagged the front of the revenant and waited. Fire fell from the sky but there was a distinct movement behind it. How had the revenant survived, it wasn't anywhere near where the shots had fallen now. Shar took aim again, this time tagging the side fin of the revenant. She swapped out to her DMR and opened fire to try to keep it distracted long enough that it would hold still.

Shar moved along the ridge and caught sight of Covenant forces. She'd clear out as many as she could before she moved in. She opened fire and quickly took out the two sniper jackals and a group of grunts that were walking about. She spotted a minor elite move into the structure but she couldn't get a good angle. That was when she saw the officer come up. She fired fast and steady, taking out its shields and neutralizing it fast. Shar moved along the back of the southern structure and took out several grunts quickly before trying to make her way around a large rock to the minor elite she knew was hiding there. She had just killed it when a second one appeared which she put down just as quickly.

"There it is." Kat had spotted it through the window and Shar moved in. She found a large lever and quickly pulled it. The generators hummed to life and steam poured from them. At least they had power. "Okay, generators up and running. Find that comms array, should be up high." Shar looked back at Kat and she looked away. Shar smiled slightly to herself. It had been a long time since she'd heard Kat give orders, and how things had gone the last time they'd been on a mission together, Shar had never expected her to give orders again. Rather than poke fun at her or be upset Shar just nodded and moved out of the structure. She looked across the way and realized that the other building was taller. That would be where it was.

She moved out to the edge of building where she saw a sniper rifle leaning up against a poorly-constructed wall. She was never so thankful that the Covenant refused to touch human weapons. She spotted the spirit dropping in and prepared herself. The sides opened and skirmishers poured from the left side. Shar took aim and fired, dispatching three of them with headshots right away before scanning the area. She killed one more on the ground and spotted one jumping up, which she shot as soon as it landed. Really their skill at jumping was impressive. The alien had jumped at least two stories. She scanned the area, waiting for any more to jump up, but instead found a grunt moving up the stairs. She shot and its brains went flying.

Shar heard noise to her left. "I'm engaging." Kat opened fire, shooting down. Shar moved to her side and stopped the skirmisher below. At this distance, battle rifles weren't very useful. Shar almost make a crack about how she should use the pistol but didn't. That was still a bit of a touchy subject, and if she did it would give away who she was, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to give Kat any hints. Instead Shar fired, killing the alien with a headshot before returning her attention to the roof across from them where a grunt now stood, seeming to not understand what had killed its comrade. Shar fired and it fell, brains splattered behind it. She did a quick sweep before she dropped her DMR and grabbed the sniper rifle. She really did love them.

Shar quickly moved across and made her way up the stairs of the north building. There was nothing on the first level but as she reached the top of the stairs to the second level she found a completely unaware grunt. She moved up behind it. One hand grabbed the back of its head, the other the mask on its front, and she twisted quickly, hearing that satisfying snap and the body fell to the ground. Damn that felt good.

Shar made her way up the last set of stairs to the roof where she found her objective. She hit a few buttons on the controls and a high pitched sound filled the air as the comms came on line. Shar moved down the stairs to make her way back to where Kat was.

"You did it Six, comms array up and running." Kat was still across the way, establishing a connection with command. Shar in the meantime passed a window and caught a glimpse of something inside. She moved around the wall and through the doorway to find a fallen marine, rocket launcher at his feet. Just what she wanted. She quickly grabbed it and dropped her target locater.

She was just moving out of the room when Carter's voice filled her ear. "_Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader. Get back to Sword Base ASAP_." He sounded like he was occupied with something else, though he was trying to give them his full attention while he gave orders.

Shar spotted the pelican that was moving in and she moved toward it. She jumped down from the second story onto some rocks and then to the ground. "On our way, Commander. Six, let's go." Once more Shar thought of making a joke or tease, but she wouldn't dare. She felt more at ease, knowing that Kat was the same gutsy strong willed fighter that she had been back during training, just with a better leader, rather than the lost and injured woman she'd seen before they split up during CARTWHEEL.

The pelican dropped a hog and this time Shar forced the marine to get off of the back. Kat took the wheel while the marine got in the passenger seat. Shar grabbed the gun, her favorite form of hog gun, the gauss cannon. "_Good work, Spartans. Return to Sword Base, the rest of your team is inbound, imminent_." The words from Sword Control made Shar wonder. What had the Alpha Spartans been up to while they were doing all of this? The warthog moved over the land and as they passed along a stone road beside the water a revenant appeared. Shar fired three times and the vehicle was down. Why didn't they have gauss cannons that could be used by soldiers on the ground, without a hog?

Carter's voice cut her off from wondering more. "_Noble, be advised: Covenant corvette moving into position. Kat, Six, get here quick. We need you inside_." Kat floored the vehicle and they sped around a turn and up a hill. Shar grinned at the Lieutenant Commander's sudden enthusiasm. That was the spirit she liked.

They crested the top of the hill and Shar spotted their enemies. She fired at a ghost but the angle was wrong and it bounced off the ground. The second shot got it. She fired at a minor and it was a miracle that his body stayed in one piece as he went flying. Kat drove forward and Shar caught sight of a revenant. She opened fire and after a few careful shots it was down, gone up in a ball of blue and purple fire. The second revenant started to flee and Shar had hit it twice when a more imminent threat arrived, an officer elite. She swung the gun around and the round tore through the elite's chest. Shar turned just in time to see the revenant trying to make a run for them. She fired and it exploded into brilliant fire.

Kat drove the hog up to the gate and Shar got out. She hit the controls and the large metal doors opened. Shar moved back to the warthog and just as she settled into the driver's seat she heard Jun's voice, sounding a bit annoyed. "_We're stalled in the tower atrium. Kat, where are you_?"

"Opening the gate now." Shar moved the warthog through the gate and toward whatever may be ahead.


	7. ONI Sword Base Part 3

ONI Sword Base part 3

Shar could only take the gauss hog to the other side of the gate. There, a full line of concrete barriers stood in her way. That was far enough for her, though. She stopped the vehicle and the glimmer of orange officer armor appeared in the side of her vision. She moved to the back of the cannon and opened fire. The first round found the center of the elite and it went flying. Still, grunts and jackals poured down the ramp after it. Shar wasn't sure how many there were, as one round would tear through one grunt and kill the one behind it. She fired at any movement until there was none.

Shar jumped from the back of the warthog and moved after Kat who was already halfway up. Shar moved up the left side and jumped up onto the stone barrier that covered that side. She made her way almost to the top when she saw grunt moving with its back turned to her. With no desire to waste rocket or sniper ammunition on the grunt she dropped down and ran toward it. She moved along behind a shield and the grunt turned to head back, giving her the perfect chance. The grunt didn't see the butt of the sniper rifle coming, but the minor elite that was to Shar's right did. It opened fire and Shar moved behind cover. Kat and a female marine soon joined them. They opened fire and Shar moved around the right. She moved around the elite's cover where it was crouching, but it spotted her. She ran forward and it tried to move away so it could fire. Shar didn't give it a chance, slamming the butt of her gun into its chest. This downed its shields. The elite roared in anger and Shar took her chance. With ease and practice, she moved behind the elite and pulled out her knife. Before it could react, Shar was on the elite's back, knife securely in her right hand. Her left hand gripped tight to the elite's body armor and she pushed off of the elite's leg, getting some height before she stabbed down. The blade sank into the elite's throat and it let out a gurgle before its legs gave out. Shar pulled her blade free and moved away.

It was then that she spotted a bigger threat. The familiar green glow of hunters were down below, inside of the base. She zoomed in with her sniper rifle and took aim at the exposed worms of the hunter's back. She took two shots before it turned toward her to fight back. She dodged one blast, but the beast left its neck exposed enough that a third round tore through the worms there and it fell. Shar turned her attention to the second hunter, once more taking aim at the exposed back. She had let off two shots when the hunter quickly moved. Her next two shots missed by only centimeters and she cursed as she swapped out her mag. She took aim again, the hunter distracted by a pair of marines trying to take cover from it. The next two shots found the hunter's back and it fell into a heap of armor and dead eel aliens. She used her last two rounds to take out a pair of grunts that were walking about. Shar was contemplating using her rocket launcher when she spotted a familiar sight up above. She moved up the side ramp to the area above the garage and she found a sniper rifle leaning up against the wall. She quickly grabbed it and all the ammunition that was there with it. She then jumped back down to where Kat and the marine were waiting for her. Shar readied her rocket launcher and the officer that was waiting moved out.

Shar fired once, the elite rolling out of the way, but her second shot hit the ground at the elite's feet, sending it flying. "Let's get to the atrium. We have to go through the elevator, Lieutenant. Take it." Shar moved forward as she reloaded her rocket launcher. They moved into the elevator and Shar hit the controls to go down.

"_Corvette's hitting this base hard_." Emile seemed unsettled. Likely he just wasn't a fan of not being able to do anything.

Kat shook her head unhappily. "Where's our orbital support? Got to be four platforms that can take it out with a single MAC round." Shar had to agree. Where was the support they needed? They needed that cruiser gone.

The door to the elevator slid open and a prerecorded voice fluttered down from the speakers above. "Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence. An ONI representative will meet you shortly."

"I doubt that very much," Kat muttered.

Shar moved in and spotted an officer elite at the end of the hallway. She fired with the rocket launcher and the elite dodged, causing it to detonate on the wall behind it. Shar aimed again, this time hitting a small incline toward where the elite stood. The blast was enough and the elite went flying. Shar quickly dropped the empty rocket launcher for a battle rifle and moved to the right side. Three grunts were running toward her, plasma grenades in hand. She fired, cutting down the first one, which caused its grenades to fly into the air. They hit the ground and detonated, killing the other two.

Shar moved along the illuminated walkway and the voice once more echoed in the hallway. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You have been cleared for access." Shar wondered how it knew who she was, or why it had cleared her rather than Kat.

Shar moved to the end of the security office where a door started to slid open for them. "_Getting close_." Jun sounded worried, at least it meant that they were close to the team. Noble Comms had connected to them as soon as the door had started to open. The parts of the door slipped open and Shar moved into the atrium.

"Taking enemy fire." Jorge was firing steadily toward an elite who was darting back and forward about halfway down the atrium while four jackals stood between them. Shar tossed two plasma grenades, each landing between the feet of the jackals, sending them all flying. Shar then opened fire on the minor elite.

"_Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure she gets there_," Carter ordered.

"Count on it." Shar took off at a full run, the three other members of Noble team falling into line behind her. She moved up a side ramp to where a marine was firing on some jackal snipers.

Shar moved across the bridge up to the next level, where she spotted a grunt going through a doorway. She opened fire and it fell, but she caught sight of three more grunts moving toward her. She tossed a frag grenade but it bounced between them, and she was still too close. She then remembered that she had her soul mate. Shar fell to one knee, her fist punching down to the ground and the heavy ultra shield of her beloved armor lock snapped on as the grenade went off. One grunt ran, but the other two were sent into the air by the blast. Shar snapped off her armor lock and spun, slamming her rifle into the third grunt's head and killing it. Plasma flew past her side and she turned to find a single grunt standing in another doorway. Shar opened fire and the grunt quickly fell. She then turned her attention to moving forward.

"_Corvette's gonna eat this base apart. What's the situation, Noble_?" Sword Control was actually starting to sound nervous.

"_Can't do this on my own! Need another Spartan up here_!" Emile let out a grunt of frustration and Shar wondered exactly what he was doing up there.

She ran into the next room and spotted an officer elite at the end of the hallway leading to the next bridge up. She tossed a frag grenade but it detonated, taking down only the elite's shield. Shar then tossed a plasma grenade. By some luck it suck to the leg of the elite and it tried to charge, only making it half way down the hallway before the sticky explosive detonated, killing it.

"_Six, get to the top floor and assist Emile_." Shar wanted to make some comment back, tell him that she was working on it, but she didn't feel comfortable enough to actually do such a thing.

Shar moved on to the bridge, where yet another officer appeared with two sniper jackals on its heels. Shar tossed a second plasma grenade, and this time it made a long arc and she just barely caught sight of the blue glowing ball sticking to the helmet of the officer before it detonated. Definitely one of her best throws. Shar ran forward, battle rifle blazing, and without much real armor the sniper jackals were cut down easily.

She moved around to where a group of marines were firing on grunts across the way and quickly swapped out her battle rifle for a DMR. She collected one more marine before she moved to the next engagement. She rounded a corner to find a jackal being fired on by a pair of marines. She opened fire, quickly knocking the jackal back and taking it down with two shots. She then turned to her left where an officer was firing. Six shots and its shields were down, the elite backpedaling to get away, but the seventh shot tore through its skull as it reached the top of the stairs. Still two jackals stood at the top of the stairs ready for combat. She used the toe head method on the first but the second backed up enough that she had to shoot it in the foot and slam the butt of her gun into its skull to kill it. Two more jackals appeared to her left, red shields flaring. Shar tossed a grenade and it landed between them. The jackals moved far enough forward that it detonated.

Shar quickly cleared out the break room of the three grunts who seemed not really prepared for her when she went charging in. Three quick shots and they were down, allowing Shar to focus on getting across the final bridge. She was just about to cross when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, a general elite. She decided to take care of him at a long range, opening fire with her sniper rifle. She got off three rounds, taking out its shields before it returned fire, causing her to have to move back to cover for a moment. Once the shots from the concussion rifle had stopped, Shar took aim, placing the final round through the elite's skull.

She then made her way across the bridge where Jorge was already waiting for her. The lights had been knocked out and screens had fallen to the floor. The area looked like a disaster zone. Shar moved along the hallway toward her final destination and the building shook under her.

"_Commander, this base won't survive another salvo from that corvette. Kill those banshees_." Sword Control sounded impatient and Shar had never wanted to slap him more. It wasn't like this was easy work all the time. She dropped her DMR and grabbed a nearby rocket launcher, ready to assist.

She made her way through the doorway to find two jackals, one with a blue shield and one with a red. One well-placed grenade between them took out both enemies. This area was a true disaster zone. The corvette had blasted a hole in the side of the base and banshee fliers milled about outside.

"About time." Emile sounded annoyed, but also relieved at the same time. Shar immediately started to take aim at the banshees, allowing her rocket launcher to lock on before firing. She'd taken out one when a phantom appeared, its turret causing her to have to move into cover. She pulled out her sniper rifle ready for whatever it would drop, but she saw nothing.

Shar instead focused her attention on the phantom itself. Three rockets across its bow and the transport blew into little bits, which made Shar as happy as a school girl on the inside. She took out another banshee with her final rocket. She fired two more rockets, taking out two more banshees, and Emile took out the final one. Shar stood at the edge of the gaping hole, looking out at the corvette still hanging in the air.

"That's the way we get it done, Spartan!" Emile shouted in relief.

"_Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defense is standing by to take the shot_." Shar was never so happy to hear Sword Control say anything so far that day.

A pair of the sleek ships zoomed overhead in pursuit of the corvette. Shar glanced to the left where she saw Emile drop his rocket launcher before jumping down. She turned her full attention to the corvette and the two much smaller ships flying after it. They'd gotten a good distance away before the longswords banked to the right and moved away from the alien craft. A second later a shot fell from the sky, hitting the corvette amidships before it hit the water below. Shar watched the corvette start to fall toward the planet.

"Beautiful, ain't it." Shar turned to look over to Jorge as he came up on her right. "Someone should take a picture." Shar had to agree. It was almost beautiful, and she'd have to say it would look good on a pro-UNSC poster. The Spartan II moved up to her side and placed an arm on her shoulder. "Nice work by the way."

Shar shrugged. "I aim to please." Her voice almost felt foreign in her own mouth. Had it been that long since she'd spoken? She hadn't had need to. She let the discomfort slip away as it always did after long bouts of silence.

The two were staring at the still burning corvette when Carter came over the radio. "_Five, Six, get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief and command's saying we're all hers." _

Jorge turned so that his back was facing Shar, tapping his fingers against the side of his helmet. "Repeat, sounded like you said Halsey." The reaction was odd to Shar. Who was this woman, and how did Jorge know her?

"_I did_." Carter didn't sound as happy about the news. More along the lines of frustrated.

"Copy that, on our way." Jorge turned off his radio and Shar tuned to follow the larger Spartan. "Don't need command to tell me. Been all hers half me life." Shar walked alongside the larger Spartan not understanding what exactly he was talking about.


	8. ONI Sword Base Part 4

ONI Sword base part 4

Shar and Jorge made their way to the science wing where the rest of Noble was already gathered. Jun and Emile stood to one side while Carter stood only inches away from a blue-tinted wall of solid blast-proof glass. Kat stood a bit back to Carter's left, and glanced over at the pair as they entered.

A rather agitated female voice echoed through the room, likely being transmitted by a radio so that they could hear the woman standing on the other side of the glass. "I requested your assistance, Commander and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep." Shar already didn't like the tone that this woman was taking with Carter. She acted like she was an admiral talking to a private. "What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement—" The woman stopped, looking past Carter to Shar and Jorge. Shar could now see the woman clearly. She looked like she was in her middle years of life, though Shar couldn't be quite sure with the odd tint caused by the glass. She wore a heavy winter coat, short ear-length hair, and Shar could see the wrinkles that were forming on the woman's face. "Jorge, it's been too long."

Jorge removed his helmet and nodded to the woman. "Ma'am." The word was quiet and respectful.

"What have you done with my armor?" Halsey sounded annoyed by the idea of Jorge's upgrades to his suit.

"Just some…additions I've made." Shar could almost swear that he sounded like a child trying to justify the reason why he's painted flames on the side of his new red wagon. It was odd to hear a seven-foot-tall killing machine sound like a child at all, let alone one that had to justify himself.

"Indeed." Halsey seemed to brush it off, turning her attention back to Carter. "Visegrad Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death." There was no emotion to Halsey's voice, just the cold voice of a woman who wanted to get to the point and fast. It felt odd to Shar that a gentle man like Jorge would have any connection to a woman like this who showed no remorse over a fallen collogue.

Carter replied with just as formal of a tone. "If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant energy sword to his abdomen."

"Elites then." Halsey seemed intrigued, like they'd finally gotten her attention.

"They engaged us as well. It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am." Jorge seemed nervous as he spoke, and hesitant to speak again of the girl they'd found. He was shifting nervously and Jun and Emile shared a glance. Shar actually felt a bit left out. "She was hiding in the—"

Halsey cut Jorge off and the Spartan seemed surprised. "Irrelevant." The word was so cold. How easily she tossed aside someone who had lost her family seemed a bit odd to Shar. Then again, she was section 3 and they weren't known for having hearts. "The elites, tell me more about them." She was fully focused on the leadership aliens.

Jorge snapped back into a soldier attitude. His words were confident and clear. "Three, zealot class. One got by us. The leader, from the looks of him."

"Zealot? You're certain?" This news seemed to excite and worry the doctor all at once.

"Their armor configuration matched," Jorge answered.

"Shield strength, too." Shar felt odd talking in front of the woman but at the moment it felt more like Halsey was treating Jorge as though he were the only soldier in the room.

"I gave the order not to pursue." Carter snapped Halsey's attention back to him, reminding her that he was the one in charge. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."

"Your primary objective? Commander are you a _puppet_ or a Spartan?" The words were scolding and the team looked surprised by such a comment. Emile and Jun looked at the woman, not understanding why she was taking such a tone. Shar noticed a slight twitch in Kat's expression, showing her anger at the woman daring to ask such a thing. None of them seemed pleased to hear a civilian taking a tone like that with their leader. Shar herself felt a bit of resentment toward it. Carter had been a good leader, and she'd agreed with his decisions at the relay station.

"Ma'am?" Carter let his displeasure seep into the word.

Doctor Halsey ignored all of this, going on as though she hadn't just created a room full of unhappy Spartans. "There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion." Shar had never heard this information before, though ONI did keep things to themselves. "Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data sorted there." The woman's tone became harsher, as though the next words placed full blame on the Commander for whatever might happened. "And you let them get away."

Carter didn't hide that he didn't like blame being put on him, particularly for information he didn't have. "Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to."

"Like warning the planet," Kat muttered. Carter glanced toward her and seemed to relax a bit as he realized his team agreed with him.

Halsey took a step over toward an item transfer container before turning back to Carter. "Professor Sorvad's final entry in the field notes made reference to 'a latchkey discovery.'" At this Halsey looked down a bit. "Latchkey…not a word he would use lightly." The words had an undertone of frustration and slight agitation. It suddenly turned lighter, as though she had the upper hand once more. "So let's hope the data module your Lieutenant Commander _stole_ contains it." She looked toward Kat.

Kat looked to the side and down as though trying to hide from the facts. "Kat?" Carter turned to her but his tone let on that he was used to this kind of thing happening.

Kat shifted her helmet to under her left arm and Halsey spoke. "Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents, as I am with any unauthorized tap." Halsey slid the container forward through the glass. Kat moved forward and dropped the data module in the container. Shar could see Kat staring at the woman, not willing to back down. She didn't look intimidated or beaten, just like it wasn't a big deal.

Halsey returned the gaze. "That data is classified Tier One." Halsey pulled the container back toward her. "I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."

Whether out of loyalty, agitation, or just not liking his soldiers being threatened, Carter stepped forward, his voice starting out stern. "Maybe you'd like to join her." Kat looked over at him, seeming to be surprised by the anger that slightly tinted his voice.

"I'm sorry?" Doctor Halsey sounded surprised that anyone would dare threaten her.

Carter's voice calmed once more, the reaction for Halsey having given him the upper hand. "We're currently under emergency planetary directive, WINTER CONTINGENCY. I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment." Shar suddenly understood why the anger was gone. He didn't need it, he had logic and orders backing him and Halsey couldn't fight those.

"Are you threatening me, Commander?" She sounded surprised that anyone would dare make such a threat to her and all the more annoyed since she couldn't fight it.

Carter's voice was light and causal as he replied. "Just making a reading suggestion, ma'am." Carter turned and started to walk out of the room, Kat falling into line behind him. "Let's move, Noble Team." Carter and Kat moved out before Jun and Emile fell into line behind them.

Jorge hesitated for a moment. "Ma'am."

Halsey wasn't paying full attention. She was examining the module for any damage or problems. "That…will be all, Jorge." Her voice was distant, as though she wasn't really putting any thoughts into the words.

Shar turned and moved out of the room, Jorge following behind her.


	9. Nightfall Part 1

Nightfall Part 1

The moon was almost completely waned in the sky above. Just a sliver of silver light spreading over the lands, giving it a slightly beautiful tint, like the midnight scene out of a movie. The calm serenity of the night was broken by the hum of Covenant engines. A phantom passed by slowly, searchlight traveling lazily over the rock wall.

There was slight movement ahead of Shar as soon as the phantom had passed. Jun stood up from where he was hiding behind a medium-sized rock. He looked so at home in the darkness, sniper rifle in his hands. She wondered how often he was sent on night missions like this. She knew that he was used to them; it was why she had been more than pleased to be put on one, with Kat in charge none the less.

Kat being in charge actually was a bit unsettling to Shar. She could still remember the female Spartan before the wreckage of the wraith and banshee, vowing to never lead again. It brought up a bit of doubt in Shar's mind. Was Kat really able to lead a mission after all of that? Or maybe it had really been that long since she'd last seen her teammate.

Shar snapped back to her task as she saw the slight nod from Jun. Shar stood up from where she was hiding. The two started to move forward, Shar's eyes traveling back and forward from the wide open sky to one side and her feet to be sure she didn't fall. She was silent as she walked, not even the sound of grass under her feet reaching the air.

The silence was broken, at least inside of Shar's helmet, as Jun radioed in. "Recon Team Bravo Reporting in: Three and Six in position." Shar really was getting used to being called by a number. It still felt odd at times. She did have a name after all, but no one ever seemed to use it, except for Kat but she'd only used it while they were on their own, and that was only after Shar had reminded her what her name was. "Starting to get crowded up here, Kat." Jun didn't sound pleased at the last statement.

Shar's gaze turned out toward the open expanse, checking for phantoms before she crossed a small gap. She risked a glance down and regretted it. They were very high up and there was nothing but rocks below. If she even slipped up a little it would be the death of her.

"_Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary._" Shar was surprised by the calm in Kat's voice as she gave out orders. All doubt in the Lieutenant's mind of Kat's ability to lead the op vanished. What had happened in the past seemed to be just that now. Something from the past that no longer weighed down the Lieutenant Commander. Shar smiled slightly at that. She was glad to know that Kat hadn't given up as she'd said she would. The memories of the false snipers on the cliff flashed in Shar's mind. Yeah, she was definitely glad that Kat hadn't lost it.

"Copy that." There was a click as Jun turned off his radio, followed shortly by a light chuckle from the sniper. "When Kat runs an op, direct action is _always_ necessary." There was amusement in Jun's voice. Shar wondered if he saw that as a good or bad thing. Personally she'd never been against direct action; it usually meant more dead Covenant, which she wanted.

Jun pulled out something from his chest plate. Shar recognized it right away as a magazine of sniper rounds. "Here." Shar took the rounds from him before he continued. "You may need these. High-velocity, armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an elite at two thousand yards." There was an odd tone to Jun's voice. Somewhere between excitement and joking. "And they ain't cheap." Jun moved further along the cliff, partially climbing a rock. "I'll be in touch." Without another word he climbed up.

Shar turned her attention away from him. She supposed he preferred to be up high. Personally, even with a sniper rifle, she'd like to be down a bit further, somewhere where there was more maneuverability. She slid down the side of the rock face. It was something she'd done before and she found it easy on this particular surface. As she neared the bottom Shar pushed off, landing a distance away from the wall.

She hit the ground and flicked on her night vision. The eerie green glow covered the landscape around her. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Shar moved forward, easily seeing the dark in the light of her night vision.

Kat's voice broke the silence. "_Recon Bravo, the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance_." Even though she wasn't in the area Kat's speech was quiet, only enough for them to be able to hear her.

"Covenant can block our instruments?" Jun sounded surprised by this information. Shar had seen it plenty of times, so she didn't understand why it was that Jun was not already aware.

"_So it would seem, and Command wants to know what they're hiding_." Kat's voice told Shar that she also wanted to know. Shar was quite curious herself.

She moved up around a corner and spotted a lone minor elite staring off into the distance. "Elite. He's yours. Do it quiet."

Shar would have told him to shut up, that she knew how to kill an elite and that she needed to be quiet, but she wouldn't risk it. Making more noise then was needed would only put them at risk. She set her sights on the elite, moving up silently behind it. Her fist connected with the elite's back before she slashed her knife along its back. Its head swung back toward her and she stabbed the knife forward, stabbing it into the base of the elite's skull, dragging it back and to the ground. She pulled her knife from the corpse and slid it back into her chest plate before turning her attention away.

A grunt had been woken by the noise and had now turned to run. It ran to another grunt, waking it as well. She raced after them. They needed to be silenced before they woke any others. The second grunt tossed a grenade, but Shar sidestepped, moving forward and slamming the butt of her sniper rifle into its head. The first grunt was trying to backtrack but before it could, she took one step toward it and slammed her left elbow into the back of its head, cracking its skull.

Shar moved along the cliff until she came to a structure. It looked similar to the ones she'd seen all over the planet. The buildings looked like they were all part of a series of rings or circles, but were cut up into three sections. One was a small structure on the north side which Shar couldn't see every well. On the east side was a crescent-shaped building that seemed to be a garage of some kind, forklifts sitting at the ready inside of it. On the roof, two special ops elites stood around, scanning the skies above. To the west was a large two-story structure, a large silo on the southern end of it. A minor elite stood gazing up at the stars on the railing of the second level. In the center was a small structure about seven feet high, two generators housed inside with electrical lines running to all of the buildings. A couple grunts were sleeping by the generator while others wandered around the area.

Rain poured down while lightning cut through the air, soon followed by the crash of thunder. Hopefully the weather would be able to conceal her presence enough for her to do some damage. Shar moved a bit closer and got a better angle. She zoomed in and carefully took aim. A shot rang out and the minor elite's brains went flying through the air. She then took aim on the grunts, easily taking down two of them in quick succession.

"Firing!" Jun's shots started to join Shar's as she cut down enemies.

She next took aim at the eastern building, taking down one special ops elite as it tried to hide behind a spool of heavy wire on the roof. She took out three grunts around the area before she swapped out her mag and moved to a better position.

The sound of Covenant engines filled the air but she ignored them, taking aim at an officer elite. With a quick shot, a round found its skull and the lifeless body flew through the air. She took aim at the last remaining special ops elite, but just as she fired, it jumped down from its perch and ran across the roof. She tried to wait for it to come out but, feeling that she didn't want to give it a chance to regroup, she started to move along the cliff to get a better view.

"Incoming, looks like you really pissed them off." Jun's voice was cold, as was common with snipers, not that Jun didn't always sound cold. Shar spotted what he was talking about. A phantom hung on the southern end of the area, letting out troops.

"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for contact report." Shar could have slapped Jun for choosing this moment to make his report. She would have to take care of these enemies while he reported in.

Shar took aim at the special op elite on the roof as Kat answered. "_Standing by to copy, over_."

"We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?" Jun didn't seem to believe that it was, and Shar had to agree.

A shot echoed through the air as the special ops elite fell. Three more shots followed as Shar took out a group of grunts that had been dropped off.

"_Negative, too small, you're not in the dark zone yet_." Her voice was cool as she gave out the orders, not a hint of doubt in her analysis, not that Shar saw a flaw in it either. "_Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving_."

"Already engaged," Jun informed.

Shar killed two grunts quickly, followed by putting a round through the head of the officer elite with them. She then moved around to get a view of the inner circle of the area. She killed one last grunt before swapping out her mag. She fired on a jackal but it moved and the shield bounced the shot away. Shar instead turned her attention to the grunts in the back, taking the pair out quickly. She fired on a jackal, the round breaking through the shield to the bird-like alien's skull. She then swept the area, looking for a better angle on the shielded aliens, taking a quick shot through the head of a minor elite. Where did those ones keep coming from?

Shar was taking aim on a jackal when she started to hear the screaming of a grunt. The thing was that she didn't see any grunts around. She was sure she'd taken all of them out, but the sound was growing louder and louder.

"What the…Ah?" Jun's words were odd and Shar was just about to turn around when she started to hear shots. There was a large blast behind her. A burnt grunt body hit the ground in front of her and she bit back a cry of pain as the blast depleted her shield and the skin below her armor heated and burned a bit. She stepped back from the edge, taking a moment to let her shield recharge as she reoriented herself. Where had that grunt come from? She would have snapped at Jun for not having had her back but she didn't. She was sniping, meaning no noise from her at all, only a few deep breaths as she regained her composure.

Jun moved up to join her as she took aim once more. She could feel his eyes on her for just a second but she ignored them. She was only a little burnt, not like it was anything new. Tired of waiting she ran jumped down the hill, switching out to her pistol. She moved into the northern structure and spotted a jackal just as it was leaving. She fired twice, the first nicking it and the second missing. She ran forward and the jackal reappeared in the doorway. One swift smack of the butt of her pistol and it crumpled to the ground.

Shar moved through the area, making sure it was clear, before she moved around the back to the west side building. On her motion tracker she noticed Jun following, just barely in range. Shar moved into the structure, switching back to her sniper rifle as she spotted a large water tower in the center of the new area. There must have been something with this planet and circles or rings as it seemed many of their buildings were shaped that way.

Shar took aim at a railing halfway up the water tower. If she were a sniper that was where she would go. She tried to stay focused but the burns were a distraction. She spotted a medical kit on the wall and grabbed it, carefully moving back into the structure a bit as she riffled through it. She found a bit of painkillers and, although she hated the things, injected it into her system. The pain eased away and she focused once more on their mission.

Jun had already moved up the stairs to the west and Shar followed after him. "_Hostile fire on my position. Covering fire_." Shar moved through the structure toward the closest door. "_I lost visual_." Shar scanned the area herself and saw nothing. She moved out into the middle of the area and toward the base of the water tower. She moved around the southern side where she found a pair of grunts. She fired, but the round missed. Damn, this was why she hated medication. It tended to blur a soldier's skills. She took a step back as their shots hit her and her shield drained to half strength. She tossed a grenade and it went off, killing one of the grunts.

Shar moved back, allowing her shield to recharge before she moved back toward the south side. She took out one grunt quickly, then slowly moved forward. She spotted a foot and as she moved she realized it was that of an elite, one that wasn't paying attention. Her round found its head, quickly followed by taking out the grunt in front of it. She took a step back as fire from a plasma turret hit her. Shar had vaguely spotted one other elite and grunt before she moved to cover, carefully inching out to find the grunt manning the turret. One shot to the alien's head and the turret fell limply. She then turned her attention down to where an ultra elite stood. She fired once but it just barely skimmed the elite's cover.

Shar moved, but so did the ultra. It moved down and she fired, the seven-foot-tall alien's shields flaring as the round hit it. It moved to cover and she moved as well, shooting it in the shoulder. The elite stepped back, gripping his shoulder in pain. She stepped back and quickly changed magazines before she moved back out. She fired again and this shot hit the side of the elite's chest. It fell to the ground, dead.

Shar carefully moved forward, being sure not to make too much motion to be spotted. She kept an eye on the southwest part of the building. She spotted a new grunt manning the turret and quickly sniped it before she continued to move. She spotted something on her motion tracker and swapped out to her pistol. Just as she did the turret opened fire; another grunt must have been at the waiting. She switched back to her sniper rifle and fired, sending the grunt tumbling from his post.

She then switched back to her pistol before moving into the southern building. She downed the two grunts inside with headshots before moving out the other side. She moved out of the building and turned to the southeast.

"_Aw, this just got more interesting_." Shar guessed that Jun was talking about the Covenant that were coming up the pass. Shar wasn't sure where Jun was, she hadn't been sure where he was since they'd started this mission. She was just going to stay focused. She sniped the grunt but after seeing she only had 13 more shots left, swapped out to her pistol for the jackal. She hit it in the hand first, and when it fell back, she shot it in the head.

Shar slowly moved forward, expecting more enemies as she heard the sound of phantoms ahead. She was surprised, though, to hear the roars of something much larger. Jun moved forward and spotted the cause of the sound first. "Eyes open, major target inbound." She came up behind Jun and found him couched near a rock. The sound of labored breathing filled the air.

Shar spotted the large creatures, larger than any Covenant that she'd seen. They were about the size of a full phantom, but she was sure they weren't Covenant. In fact, from what she could tell, they were attacking the Covenant. She moved a bit forward and realized that there wasn't one, but two of them. Shar opened fire with her pistol but the creatures didn't even seem to realize they'd been hit. She moved up to a higher point above some rock to watch for a moment. Whatever Covenant had been in the area were dead, and the creatures were still pissed.

Shar opened fire on one of them, knowing that they weren't going to get through without killing them. "This one is mine." Shar rolled her eyes as Jun spoke. He really couldn't shut up. The beast turned around and roared as Jun started to shot it with the sniper rifle. "Don't worry, I have a bullet for each of you." Shar could have slapped him for that one.

The beast charged forward as both Shar and Jun shot at it. It roared and after Shar emptied her clip into it, the beast finally fell. With the other dead, the second one started to notice. It moved toward them, its odd jumping gallop causing the ground to shake. It reached the base of the rock that Shar was standing on and roared. The sheer force of its roar sent her sliding back, but she moved to stay on top. The beast then turned to Jun, presenting its back to Shar. She shot at it with her pistol, trying to protect her teammate.

The shots seemed to be having no effect so Shar grabbed a plasma grenade and tossed. It stuck to the left hip of the beast, though it didn't seem to notice, too enraged to care about having something stuck to it. The explosive went off and with one last roar the beast died.

"Kat, pick any of that up?" Jun sounded still slightly rattled from how close it had gotten to him.

Shar turned her attention to the sky and the phantom that was now moving away. "_Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called Guta._" Always trust Kat to have the information, not matter how obscure it was. Though the size of the beasts, with how large Jorge was, made Shar wonder if living on Reach just naturally made you larger.

Shar and Jun started moving across the open space, Shar dropping her nearly spent pistol for a needler rifle. "Six, there's a trail up ahead, through the rocks. Let's take it." Shar moved after him, glancing back at the fallen beasts. She felt a bit bad about having killed them. She supposed they were just two more innocent casualties of war.


	10. Nightfall Part 2

Nightfall Part 2

Jun took the lead and Shar followed behind him. They made their way down what Shar could only guess might have once been a river. On either side of the valley there were higher areas with railing, but no stairs. Shar jumped down into the bottom of the valley after Jun. They ran through a group of Moa who all took off in different directions. Shar let them be, figuring she'd killed enough of the ecosystem for one night.

Gunfire crackled through the air. It was a familiar sound. Jun spoke what Shar was thinking. "Gunfire. Magnums, security side-arms. Standard issue." That was the only sound she could think of it being.

They moved through a cave and came to what seemed to be a pumping station. Shar looked down at the scene below, frowning. The main part of the station was a circle, and on the south and west side were a set of buildings that once more looked like chunks of larger rings. To the east was a bridge that led toward a large gate. To the south and west, behind the building, were three massive pumps, larger than anything that Shar had seen for such purposes. Around all of that, and around the northern and western part of the facility, there was water, not too deep in most places, but at least a foot.

On the facility side of the water there were elites and Jackals running about. They were firing on what looked to be a group of civilians. None of the civilians wore armor, and Shar was certain that if she and Jun didn't act, the civilians would be dead in a matter of minutes. Without even thinking, Shar took aim with her needler rifle and fired. She focused on the leader, an officer elite. It tried to duck and dodge but Shar kept her aim steady. After a number of shots lodged in the elite's chest it burst into a shower of pink shards.

"Noble Two, we're at some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilian, I'm thinking more local militia. They've engaged hostiles." Jun didn't move, didn't lift his rifle to fire, as though he wasn't sure yet if they should help them.

Shar crouched down and switched to her sniper rifle. "_Move to assist. They may have intel we need_." The orders seemed cold as Shar heard them. She had never expected Kat to be willing to only see a person as a source of information.

A phantom eased in to drop off more troops and Shar watched it, being sure to watch what came out. "You heard her, Six. Keep those civilians alive." Once more Shar wanted to hit him, telling that while he had been standing around she'd already been doing that, but she didn't. She could have even pulled rank on him, told him to stop ordering her around, but she instead remained focused.

Shar tracked a minor and officer elite as they moved along the west building. "Give us a hand! Bastards just keep coming." The civilian's voice was strained, and Shar wondered if he was injured, or just frustrated by the difficulty of fighting the Covenant. Most local militia didn't realize how strong the Covenant was.

Shar waited patiently, remaining silent and finally the two elites came to a stop. She targeted the officer first and then the minor, putting a round through each of their heads. She looked to the roof of the building and spotted a pair of skirmishers. She switched to her needler rifle, having found it more affective against the agile aliens. Shar took aim and placed her shots carefully, though it was hard with them darting back and forward. The first fell to a headshot after a moment. She swapped out her magazine and moved a bit down the hill. She took aim again at the skirmishers but they ran about to quickly for her to shoot. She shot here and there at the other enemies, hoping to at least weaken them for the militia. She emptied the magazine and switched to her sniper rifle.

Shar was patient, choosing the right moment and firing, sending one jackal flying into the air. She then moved down to where the militia had gathered. She took out a pair of grunts and heard one of the militia say that it was safe over by her. She scowled. She reminded herself that she had to keep them alive, and that punching one of them for using her as cover would probably kill them. She decided instead to ignore his words. She took out a jackal in the center and then a skirmisher on the south building roof.

"Oh man, we're going to get killed doing this." Shar could almost hear the man shaking in his boots. Having people who were scared wasn't going to help her with keeping them alive. She'd have to be sure they stayed back or she'd end up with four dead civilians and no information.

Shar moved toward the center, crossing the water and dropping her needler rifle for a plasma rifle as she realized she only had three shot left. She moved through the area, looking for enemies. What she found was better, sort of. She found a dead civilian—that was the bad part—but beside him was a DMR. She dropped the plasma rifle and picked up her old friend. It felt good to have the rifle in her hand again. She turned back down the bridge and moved to where the militia had joined up with Jun around some cases.

The leader of the militia group spoke up. "Little more action then we're used to. You Spartans are good in a fight." He seemed very relieved to have their help. Though that was common for the arrival of a Spartan.

"What are you doing here? Whole area's supposed to be evacuated." Jun was taking control of the situation, so Shar moved over to where she spotted some equipment. She quickly detached her sprint ability and swapped it for the bubble shield generator.

"Didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home." Shar couldn't fault the militia men for that. She wouldn't have wanted to leave New Harmony for someone else to protect, if she hadn't been a child at the time. Though she felt the same way about Onyx. She wouldn't want to leave it to someone else to protect the place where she had trained, her second home. "So we came back, for this." The cases opened to reveal a battle rifle, a DMR, a rocket launcher, and a sniper rifle. "We have 'em hidden all over the territory." Shar was at least glad that the man was being honest with them. What he was admitting to was a crime, but here he was openly telling them. It was good to know she wouldn't have to use force to get information from them.

"You know this stuff is stolen." There was a light tone to Jun's voice.

"What? You going to arrest me?" The militia man seemed to have no issue with challenging Jun on that. Really there was no way they could.

"No." Shar could almost see the smile on Jun's face as he spoke. "Gonna steal it back."

Shar heard the familiar whine of Covenant engines and she searched the sky. "Another drop ship coming in." Jun's words snapped Shar's attention to where he was looking. A phantom was moving up the south side. It eased in to hover over the opening of a channel that allowed water to flow under the west side building to the northern part of the facility. Shar quickly took out the grunt turret gunner on the side, watching the body fall to the water below.

The sides eased open and two elites followed by four jackals poured out. Shar fired, taking out one jackal before it could even leave the ship. She then moved along the side of the west building, switching to her DMR. The militia had gathered there and she joined them. While they all stayed back she moved a bit down the winding ramp and spotted the officer elite and a jackal standing in the water. She shot the jackal's foot, quickly shooting it in the head a fraction of a second later. She backed up as the phantom turned, allowing the second turret to fire at her.

As she moved toward the south building she spotted a minor elite and opened fire. It turned towards her and started to back up. She followed it, keeping her aim steady on it. "Heads up, phantom coming in." Shar cursed silently at Jun's announcement. She dispatched the minor and turned to her left to find an officer. She opened fire and quickly killed it as well.

Shar circled back around, swapping out her mag as she came up on a jackal. She fired and shots from the militia on the top of the western roof helped to take out the alien. Shar moved back toward the center, looking for the phantom. "We got company." Shar ignored Jun this time. She could hear the engines, she knew they had company.

Shar spotted the phantom as it moved along to the eastern side between the bridge and the gate. She switched to her sniper rifle, ready for anything. She sniped the turret on one side as the doors opened. Grunts poured out and she took aim at the gathered group. She fired twice, taking out two before the turret opened fire on her, having turned so the second could shoot at her.

Shar moved to cover, switching to her DMR. She moved back out, taking aim at the grunts as they made their way down toward the water to go straight to the group. Shar opened fire, killing three of them in quick succession. She killed two more a moment later. She moved back a bit, swapping out her mag, and then stepping out, dispatching the last grunt.

"Here they come, here they come." The frenzied voice of the militia soldier filled the air.

"More inbound." Jun was calm and collected, so different from the militia soldiers. It was a surprise to Shar to see such a gap in training, and skill.

The phantom crossed overhead and without thinking, Shar slammed her fist to the ground, creating a bubble shield around her. She stood in it until the phantom had moved over to the north side, where the militia had started out taking cover. She moved into the center of the facility and found herself faced with an elite. For a few seconds they did an odd sort of combat dance, both trying to keep distance, while still keeping their aim. Shar moved to avoid the blasts of the concussion rifle, while the elite was trying to keep its shields intact. In the end Shar won, the elite crumpling to the ground.

She then set her sights on the newly dropped off enemies. The jackal shields made them easy to spot. She made a quick pattern of her foot head technique on one jackal, but was forced to once more put up a bubble shield as the phantom moved to leave. It had drained her shields and she stood under the bubble shield, allowing her energy shield to recharge and let the phantom leave. As soon as the blasts had stopped she moved out from cover. She took aim at the jackals. She spotted a minor elite but let it go for a moment. She instead focused on each of the jackals, hitting foot then face with bullets.

When she finished she moved around to the back of the west building. She could hear the militia panicking and then a triumphant cry from Jun. "Yeah, I got it."

Shar moved back to the center, moving over to the cases and trying to decide if she wanted to take one of the other weapons. While she decided she listened to the others talk. "Nothing here but the lake." Jun sounded confused. There was no reason the Covenant would want a lake, so it was a bit perplexing.

"Road leads to a hydro-electric plant, but the gate doesn't work." From the sound of it the militia man had gotten used to it just not working. She supposed that they were used to not replacing or being able to repair things.

"Alternate route?" Jun asked.

Shar moved over to the equipment, now she could feel some of the men watching her. She tossed away her bubble shield generator and smiled behind her visor as she snapped her armor lock into place on her suit. DMR, sniper rifle, and armor lock. Yeah, she was feeling good. She turned her attention back to the conversation, deciding that she might be needed.

"We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons…" They moved over across the bridge as the man spoke.

"Basically anything the UNSC considers contraband," Jun finished.

"Basically." Shar was a bit surprised by how easily the man admitted they were smuggling contraband. He wasn't even ashamed or trying to hide it.

"Show us." Jun's voice was serious and they started to move off, Shar following behind the militia as they lead the way.


	11. Nightfall Part 3

Nightfall Part 3.

The group moved along the ramp that ran away from the pump station. Jun took the lead of the civilians "There's the riverbed, Six. Let's see where it goes."

Shar supposed that it really was their only course of action. It was basically the only pathway away from the pump station without a boat. She moved along it surprised to find a few light sticks placed along the way. She took the lead, switching to her DMR. In this area they'd only meet up with close quarter-combat.

"Where does this riverbed lead?" It was a good question, though Shar was wondering why it had taken Jun so long to ask it.

"Straight to the hydro plant." Shar was glad to hear the militia man's voice much calmer than it had been. Whatever fear there had been from fighting the Covenant was gone, for now. "We dammed this river up forty-five years ago. Plant powers every settlement in the territory." This man seemed to know a lot. "Shame if it all gets wasted."

"Doing what we can." Jun's voice held a hint of sorrow. She was sure this wasn't the first time he'd seen people's homes and livelihoods being threatened by the Covenant, though she knew how that sort of thing usually ended. With a planet of glass lands and burnt skies.

Shar heard the growing sound of Covenant engines. She looked up to the sky and spotted the ship. "Hold up. Covie dropship, take cover." Shar moved below a rock arch that crossed the riverbed. She looked up, wondering if at one time the water had been high enough that it had been used by civilians to cross the stream.

She was pulled out of those thoughts by Jun. "Okay, we're clear. Let's move."

Shar continued to move down the dry riverbed, following the lights to lead her way. She supposed either the Covenant had put them there for their soldiers, or the militia had to aid their smuggling of contraband. Right now, it really didn't matter to her.

She continued on until they came upon the power station. It was to the southeast of the path they'd taken. The path continued on along the east to a bridge that spanned the wide valley between the path and the plant. Everything was circular, as she expected, though it seemed to be one with the mountain. The plant was built into three levels. On the south side of the area stood the power plant, reaching high into the sky above all the other buildings. Electrical lines spread across its roof along structures and then went every which way down to the buildings and disappeared off across the rock walls around it. Just north of the main plant was a ring of concrete that rose up a story into the air. Shar could see an opening on the north side of the ring to allow water to flow through and fall into the valley below. There were buildings built into the east and west side of the inner ring and another building further back to the southeast.

What really caught Shar's attention was the non-human structure just to the northeast of the ring. In Covenant fashion the structure was sleek, rounded, not straight-cut edges like most of the human structures. The structure stood on three thick legs, turrets set up between each of the legs. The structure reached up into the sky. Halfway up there was a circle of metal, though Shar couldn't figure out the purpose. Near the top, the structure was broken apart, though still the top hung in the air. A beam of light wavered in the air, originating from the center of the structure. The light held what looked to be a three lobed metal device in the air. What it was all for, she wasn't exactly sure. Periodically, a pulse would go up the light and spread over the three leaves, causing a cascade of violet light to spread forth as though creating a great dome.

"Kat, are you seeing this?" Jun seemed a bit stunned by the device, not that she could blame him. How had the Covenant put that there without them realizing? "Covenant structure, kind of a big pylon. Heavily fortified."

That was an understatement. There were elites walking about the area, sleeping grunts, jackals, and even grunts sleeping on the structure, ready to man the turrets. She wasn't sure yet how they would deal with it. After all, she still hoped to keep the militia troopers safe, if she could.

"_That's the source of our dark zone_," Kat informed them.

"Okay, consider it gone." Jun seemed pleased at the idea of blowing up the structure, though Shar could guess that a good number of ONI spooks would love to get their hands on it.

"_Negative, stick a remote det charge on it. Command's planning something big._" From the way Kat spoke, Shar guessed she didn't know exactly what they were planning, and as usual didn't like that. "_They say that pylon dies at dawn."_

Shar couldn't think of a good reason why they weren't destroying it now, unless they were hoping to have the element of surprise. Destroying it now would alert the Covenant that they knew where they were. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to question it. Command gave orders, and she followed them, so stay it would.

The group moved along path toward the bridge, stopping behind a large rock. "We going to blow it?" The militia man seemed excited at the idea of blowing it up, though she supposed they hardly ever blew up something as large as that structure, or got to see the beauty to the destruction of Covenant weapons. It wasn't just the fact the enemy was losing something of theirs, but Shar honestly saw a sort of beauty in the multitude of colors that blossomed forth from an exploding Covenant item.

"We're gonna clear the area, and I'm gonna plant a remote det charge. You want to provide some cover, go right ahead." It was obvious from Jun's tone he no longer saw a need for the militia to be with them. He no longer seemed to even care if they survived.

Shar moved ahead of the others, staying silent and picking her moment right. The officer elite on the bridge had his back to her. She struck out, slamming into the elite's back. It stunned him just long enough for her to grab the back of his helmet and pull herself up. She put one foot on the backward facing knee of his right leg and the other on his left hip, rising up enough to grab the front of his head with her right hand. One quick jerk and she heard the elite's spine snap under the force. Unfortunately, there had been a grunt at the elite's feet.

The death gurgle of the elite, and the sound of its body hitting the ground, woke the grunts. They jumped up in surprise. She beat down the first one before taking aim with her DMR and downing the other two on the bridge as they tried to run away. She then turned her attention to a grunt moving toward her, spewing needler rounds at her as it moved. One quick shot and it too fell to the ground.

"Don't let up." The voice was right beside her and Shar realized that the militia were moving in to help. She appreciated their enthusiasm, but they were likely to get themselves all killed. She took aim at the closest turret and after a few shots the grunt there fell to the ground. Shar turned and ran toward the pylon, hearing a triumphant cry from the militia as they killed one of the turret grunts. She used the grav lift up to the turret level and was surprised to find that they had killed the remaining gunner. She turned her attention to the ground, firing at a grunt before plasma shots hit her.

Shar moved around behind the structure's inner spire to avoid the elites. She switched to her sniper rifle and took aim. The first shot hit one of the minors in the chest and the second shot finished it with a bullet to the skull. The second elite moved to cover. She waited for a moment to see if it would come back, but it didn't. She turned her aim toward the ground, and the jackals approaching; that was then she spotted the elite move back out of cover. Shar fired at it, the first shot skimming its throat and the second shattering its helmet.

She jumped down from the pylon and moved up some stairs to the concrete ring, looking for anything to shoot. Not spotting anything she headed down a ramp toward the main plant. She found a group of grunts outside which she finished off easily. Jun and one of the milita soldiers joined her. They moved up the stairs, where a trio of grunts walked out, quickly taken out by a few precise shots. Shar rounded the corner to go into the building and found herself faced with an officer elite. It cursed something in its alien language and the group opened fire. The officer's shields dropped and Shar slammed her elbow into its chest. The force sent it flying back and it fell limply to the ground. They moved into the plant and, after being sure it was clear, Shar moved out the other side, quickly killing a jackal and skirmisher.

"All clear, Six." Jun ran past her and moved towards the pylon. "This is gonna take a minute, so keep your eyes peeled. Shar ran after him as they both moved down to the pylon.

As if on cue a phantom rose up into the sky, moving over to the side of the bridge closest to them. Shar moved to cover and waited to see what it would drop on them. "Big trouble here, we got big targets coming." Shar had to agree as the massive aliens hit the ground. Hunters, not what she had expected. She certainly didn't have the firepower needed for those.

Thinking fast, Shar decided to improvise. She took aim at a forklift near the two hunters. Two shots and it went up into flames, causing the massive walking tanks to stumble back. She threw a grenade, but it didn't seem to do much. The militia soldiers joined her in firing on it, though she was using her DMR for now. Shar sidestepped a shot from the closest hunter and switched to her sniper rifle. She put six shots into the first hunter before it finally fell. She put the last of her shots into the second hunter, but it stood strong. She switched to her DMR and as Shar ran forward, fired at whatever weak spot she could find. When she was close enough she tossed a sticky grenade. The blue explosive stuck to the alien's stomach, and detonated, though it only seemed to damage the armor, removing it from the alien's back but not killing it. She continued to move closer, hoping to be able to stay behind it, but she moved too close and it turned around. The hunter swung itself forward, and the aliens' head connected with Shar's chest, sending her stumbling back. Before it could reorient itself Shar's feet moved on instinct, carrying her around and away from the hunter a bit. She tossed her last grenade and it stuck to the hunter's chest plate. It went off and in a brilliant light swallowed up the hunter, leaving behind nothing but charred armor and eels.

Shar moved back toward the group, trying to catch her breath as she realized she only had two shots left in her DMR. She started to move through the facility, looking for ammunition or a new weapon.

"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, charge in place," Jun reported.

"_Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope."_ Kat was sounding eager. She must have been a bit worried about how long it had taken them to clear the area.

"Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply." Jun sounded a bit too pleased with his placement.

Kat didn't sound impressed. "_All right. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding._" Shar wondered how much of it was Command and how much of it was her.

Shar grabbed a plasma pistol, dropping off her DMR as she didn't think she'd be finding any more rounds for it. It would have to do for now, until she could find rounds for some other, better, weapon.

"There's a gate to the southeast of the power plant." Jun moved away from the pylon, joining the militia soldiers.

"_Copy. Uploading security codes to you now._" Shar wondered if Kat had been given the codes, or simply stole them. She supposed it didn't matter to her. It was better not to ask how Kat got, or knew, things.

Shar moved over to the gate and waited with the others while Jun typed in the code. "Okay, got 'em. Unlocking the gate." The doors started to slide open and Shar prepared for whatever was on the other side.

"_Recon Bravo, you're heading into the dark zone now._" Shar supposed that was Kat's way of saying she wasn't going to be able to give then any real heads up.

"Understood." Jun moved through the gate after Shar. "Phantom, a little too close for comfort."

Shar charged the troops that were dropped off. She fired wildly with her plasma pistol and in a matter of seconds they were all dead. She smirked behind her visor. Even with the worse weapon in the Covenant arsenal they didn't stand a chance against her.

Shar ducked down as plasma fire filled the air. She got a glimpse of the cause before she moved to cover. A shade was stationed up ahead and was firing at her. The rest of the group moved forward while Shar took a step back. She spotted a case and opened it, finding twenty rounds of sniper rifle ammunition inside. Shar took aim and sniped the gunner from the turret. She waited for a moment, to see if any other alien would be fool enough to get into it. When none did she moved forward to join the others, still keeping an eye on the turret. An elite popped out a bit ahead of them but was downed a second later as her shot found its temple.

They moved forward, finding a second shade which she quickly sniped as well. A second grunt manned it and she cleared it as well. She downed one more grunt and heard the roars of elites.

The high pitched whine of banshee engines sounded above them. "Lotta air traffic around here, Six. I think we're getting warm." Jun moved ahead of her while she looked up toward the sky for a moment, spotting the trail of banshees.

Shar turned her attention back to the battle, grabbing an assault rifle for her plasma pistol. Just in time as she moved around the rock and spotted a minor elite. She opened fire. Its shields fell and it tried to run but she chased after it, finally downing it. She turned to spot two jackals that fired on her. She tossed a grenade and it killed one, causing the other to fall back. Before she could fire again heat splashed over her. An overcharged shot from a jackal took down her shield and fire from a third shade turret hit her. Shar ran back feeling her body burn as she struggled to get out of the way of the turret.

Shar moved back the way she'd come and leaned up against a wall. "What, you don't like my cooking?" Shar frowned at Jun's comment. She wasn't sure if he'd said it to her or someone else, but he really needed to learn to shut up on missions like this.

Shar moved back to where she'd first started, grabbing some more ammunition before she tried to decide what to do. Unfortunately the others had followed her, and brought an elite in tow. She fired, killing it, and cursing them for having followed her. Setting the pain aside Shar moved onward.

She sniped a jackal and carefully peeked out, taking out the third turret before it spotted her. She cursed as fire from the second turret hit her and she quickly fired, blowing up the entire shade. She finished off the jackal below and moved to cover as officer fired on her.

She moved forward, sniping a grunt before it could man the third shade again. She waited, and the officer finally showed, allowing her to snipe it in the head. She sniped one more grunt and officer before she finally cleared the area.

"Noble Two, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship." Jun sounded scared, or agitated, she couldn't exactly tell which.

"_Solid copy. Don't stop now."_ Kat must have known something. What more did they need to know about other than there was a Covenant ship?

Shar moved forward and they found a small gap that opened up to look over the larger area. Shar and Jun moved down to their stomachs, crawling forward slowly. What Shar saw made her blood run cold. The area ahead was tinted blues and purples, likely from all the artificial Covenant light. There was not just one Covenant ship, but several, including AA guns on the ground, which she knew well.

"Jackpot," Jun whispered.

Shar finally found her voice, speaking for the first time on the mission. "Transmitting visual."

"You seeing this, Kat?" There was an air of disbelief in his voice.

"_Confirmed. Receiving Noble Three and Noble Six's live visual of a Covenant strike force._" There was an air of fear in Kat's voice. Shar didn't blame her. It was a lot of Covenant force, and it was all on Feach. It wasn't a few little phantoms of troops. It was much more.

"That's no strike force, it's an invading army. If we're gonna smother this thing, we need to go in hard and fast." There was a bit of panic to Jun's voice.

"_Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. Sun will be up in a few hours...and it's going to be a very busy day._"


	12. Tip of the Spear part 1

Tip of the Spear Part 1

Szurdok Ridge, Utkozet

August 12, 2552 8:00 Hours

The UNSC's response to the Covenant invasion forces that had been found the night before was far from small. Warthogs, mongooses, falcons, pelicans and scorpion tanks thundered over the dusty landscape. It would be a wonder if the Covenant wasn't ready for them when they arrived. Sure, the grunts and jackals could be dumb, but even they couldn't miss the mass of human vehicles speeding toward them. The light jeeps weaved around the thundering tanks, taking place ahead of them. They were going to strike at the Covenant fast and with all the force they could muster.

The familiar calm voice of Dot echoed in Shar's helmet. "It appears that Noble Team's discovery last night was not an anomaly." That couldn't mean anything good. "Large Covenant deployments have occurred undetected, and we are now under attack across the Viery territory, including orbital defenses." That was troubling news. The orbital guns were what made Reach so strong. They could take out even a Covenant cruiser. If they were taken out, then there would be nothing to save Reach. "As per the Winter Contingency, we are countering on every front. Noble's reconnaissance has also identified sophisticated Covenant army hiding canopies, and has been pinpointed what's believed to be a landing zone for additional Covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined." The last part struck Shar as rather odd. They didn't know where the additional forces would be coming from? That didn't seem possible.

But for now Shar didn't need to worry about that. She glanced to her left where Kat sat in the driver's seat. She didn't seem at all phased by the information, or maybe Shar had just been away from the other Beta Spartan long enough that she no longer knew how to read her. For all she really knew, Kat could be thinking of the possible sources of more troops. Shar's gaze turned back to the way ahead. The dusty landscape just seemed to stretch on forever. She almost wished they were further back in the forces. At least then she would have something to look at.

"That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC command as a Priority One target." Shar Spotted the falcon moving over head, and Carter looking out the side of it, down at them.

"Det-charge link is loud and clear!" From the tone Jun seemed excited to see how well the charge he had planted would work.

"Copy that." Kat retrieved the detonator from her armor. "Acquiring signal lock on the pylon. Detonating in three, two…" Her thumb hovered over the button and as Shar counted down to one and zero in her head Kat hit the button. On the ridge to Shar's right a ball of fire erupted, destroying the pylon they'd found the night before.

Shar's attention was turned back to what was ahead of them as several gunners opened fire. Banshees were swooping in and the bright blue light of Covenant vehicle fire streaked across the sky. She knew that they would mount a counter attack, though she hadn't expected them to meet them this early. She'd hoped they would at least get a bit further into the territory before the Covenant struck back.

The banshees swooped low, bombarding the warthogs with plasma. The drivers swerved out of the way of the shots though several unlucky hogs were hit. The shots from the wraiths started to hit the ground, leaving burning blue marks surrounded by black ash. Warthogs burst into fire as they were hit and sent flying through the air. Still the UNSC troops pushed on, trying to make their way through the aerial assault. Through all of it, all Shar could do was sit in the passenger's seat, gripping her assault rifle tightly. Kat moved in line toward their target behind two other warthogs. They just had to make it across the bridge and then they would be into the ground troops, able to do something.

Unfortunately the Covenant realized this. Shar spotted the fliers overhead, the plasma falling. "Incoming!" She felt so helpless, unable to do anything as the bridge was hit.

Shar had to give Kat some credit. Despite the fire ahead of them she pushed forward. "Might want to hold on to something!" Kat moved to the side as the lead hog was sent tumbling backward and nearly hit them. The jeep that had been right ahead of them has swerved to the side, avoiding the bridge completely. The warthog accelerated and Shar's left hand moved up to grip the metal bar that ran above her and Kat down the middle of the jeep.

The speed still wasn't enough and their warthog hit the ground hard. The ground and sky tumbled before them as Shar was thrown forward. She could hear metal bending and glass breaking but all she was aware of was the forces around her. Without seatbelts there was nothing to hold her in place and she was bounced around between the seat and dash. There was fire before them and then everything went white.

Slowly the white faded and vision returned to Shar. She looked down at her hand, trying to get her bearings. She must have been thrown from the jeep, as she seemed to be lying on the ground. She caught sight of a grenade launcher nearby. Good, a weapon, at least she could defend herself, even if she hated the damned weapon. Shar groaned as she pushed herself up. Her arms worked, and she could feel the pain in her legs. As long as she could move then she was sure she could survive.

Shar looked to her right just in time to see a warthog try to make the jump. Its front slammed into the broken part of the bridge and the trio of soldiers were lost into the valley below.

"Six!" It was Kat's voice, shouting at her. Shar looked to her left where Kat was on her feet. "Can you hear me? Six, you all right?" There was actual concern in Kat's voice, and for a moment Shar was sure she was just imagining it. Shar started to push her way to her feet. "I could use some help."

Shar's left hand found the grenade launcher and she pushed aside the pain, and how badly things had just gone. "On my way." The words were cold and steady. They had a job to get done, and they would do it. Kat moved forward toward their overturned warthog, using it for cover. Shar's gaze turned to the spirit drop ship that was moving over the landscape. This was not going to be an easy fight.

Shar was moving to do the same as Kat when she spotted the three banshees swooping in. They opened fire as one and the warthog burst into a ball of flames. Shar looked to Kat to see if she had survived and felt a wave of jealousy wash over her. Why did Kat get armor lock and she didn't? Shar pushed it aside, such emotions had no place on the battle field. She turned her attention back toward the field ahead of them, the bright red shields of jackals catching her eyes.

"_Kat, Six, what's your status_?" There was only the slightest hint of worry to Carter's voice, likely only because he had lost sight of their jeep when they'd veered off. She supposed it was one of those team things. She knew that when she'd worked with the ODST she'd felt a bit of apprehension when they would get out of sight or she would lose contact with them after something happened. This situation didn't seem much different.

Shar started to move up the hill, taking aim with her launcher. "Pylons are down, we're pushing up the hill." The words were muted in Shar's ears as heavy fire filled the air, aiming at a falcon above. Shar took aim and with the manual control detonated a grenade btween a pair of jackals that were paying more attention to the falcon above than the troops on the ground. Not that she could blame them. She and Kat were the only troops they needed to worry about, and she was sure they weren't aware yet that they were Spartans.

Shar charged in, as she often forgot she wasn't supposed to, putting her grenade launcher on her back in favor of her DMR. A few shots and the jackal before her was down. Remembering that she was supposed to be working with Kat, and that meant not running in alone, she backpedaled. Shar moved around a rock toward the top of the hill, finding a group of grunts. Two went down easy with bullets to the head while the others ran. She moved a bit more around the rock and found a grunt banding on its weapon. It didn't even look up to see her before it too joined the others in death.

Shots from a concussion rifle streaked through the air and both Shar and Kat moved back behind the closest rock. Shar moved out, deciding to draw their fire. She fired once and cursed at herself as she realized her clip was empty. With skill gained over years of fighting she moved, dodging each and every blast from the concussion rifle. She took aim at the ultra elite who was firing and started to shoot. The alien's personal energy shield flared and after five shots fell, allowing her to put three more shots into its chest until it died.

Shar then set her sights on the turrets that were causing the ground to sort of shake below her. They were firing heavily, trying to destroy the Spartans with pure overwhelming fire. She raced across the area, switching to her grenade launcher. She fired, detonating the grenade at the base of one of the shades. It didn't destroy it, but the grunt fled from the post in fear. Quickly swapping to her DMR Shar finished the small alien with a shot to the head. She turned to attack the other shade but found it empty. She paused for a moment, smiling a bit behind her visor. Seemed Kat could take care of herself.

"_Kat, be advised: ONI has identified two hostile anti-aircraft guns southwest of your location."_ It was good to hear Carter's voice back to his normal serious tone.

Shar looked up to see a pelican moving over head. Kat moved up to where Shar stood, watching it as well. "Copy, Commander." Kat turned her gaze toward Shar. "New target, Six. Shut down those AA guns." Shar nodded and Kat turned her attention back toward the pelican which dropped down a warthog, though not the usual kind. Shar and Kat raced toward the vehicle, eager to get to work.


	13. Tip of the Spear Part 2

Tip of the Spear Part 2

Shar looked over the controls. Yeah, this would do her nicely. She hadn't had much chance to use this kind of hog in the past since there weren't that many and they had to be used properly, but it was perfect for this occasion. Six shots per firing, although the cool down and cycle time were a bit annoying it was worth it for how much destruction she could cause with this thing.

Shar looked over as Kat got into the driver's seat and a marine took the passenger's. She gave Kat a thumbs up and they were off. The path wound along the valley and there was a small section that seemed to have once been a bridge but at some point had been destroyed, likely by the covenant. The slight drop was no problem for the all-terrain-vehicle which easily landed on all four tired.

"_Six, AA guns should be in visual range_." At Carter's words Shar's gaze swept the sky. She didn't see the actual gun until they had round the corner. It stuck up into the sky, the two prong length of its nose was pointed toward the sky. Along the barrels where the energy shots ran there were little bumps that almost looked like teeth. It reminded Shar of a demonic bird, searching the sky for pray.

"_Two Lima Four to Noble One. Those guns are pounding us with high-velocity plasma shells_." The voice over the radio seemed calmer then Shar felt it should be.

Shar opened fire from a distance on the gun. Six rockets sored through the air toward the AA gun. Pink shards cut through the air beside Shar and she turned her attention to a trio of skirmishers that were in their way. Now that would be a problem. The one bad enemy to have while using a rocket hog, fast moving small nimble ground troops. Shar opened fire anyway and two of them didn't move, ending up engulfed by the flames.

"_Which would mean a strike by the Frigate Grafton is also out of the question_." The comment from Dot surprised Shar a little. It wasn't so much what she said, but how she said it. The phrasing felt rather human, not the normal terms she would expect from an AI.

Shar caught the third skirmisher out of the corner of her eye. It was sent flying as the warthog clipped it and as soon as it landed the marine opened fire, and the skirmisher fell. At least they had a good passenger.

"_Noble Six, all our birds are stuck out of range unless you can do something about those guns._" Shar kept her mouth shut as she fired rather at the ground where a ghost and several grunts were gathered. It was not her place, nor did she have the time at the moment, to make comments back to her Commander's orders.

Shar had just cleared out the grunts and most of the jackals when something worse arrived. A revenant slid into attack position and started to fire on the hog. Shar opened fire on it and it backed away for a moment before charging straight at them. It hit a bump, sending it flying over their heads. Shar hurried to turn the turret around, but oddly found herself staring straight at the revenant. Kat had rammed it and the vehicle seemed reluctant to back away, even though it was too close to fire. Shar decided she didn't feel the same way. She fired just as Kat kicked the jeep into reverse. The revenant exploded into a ball of fire as all six rockets hit it. She then turned her gaze up toward the sky and fired on the watch tower hovering nearby. It blew into a ball of yellow and then blue flames. With most of the ground troops gone the set their sights on the main gun. They made their way up the hill, quickly killing the jackals and grunts in the way before moving up to the main entrance to the gun.

Kat kept the vehicle moving as Shar opened fire on the entrance. Two salvos of rockets took out not only a slew of grunts but also a general elite who had just gotten outside. Kat kept them moving as Shar took out the remaining jackals and then fired a salvo into the gun's base. The lower part of the gun's turret crackled sparked as it started to overheat. A deep blaring siren went off, filling the air with a warning that the gun was going critical. As the gun smoked and burned Shar thought of making a comment, bringing up CARTWHEEL, but she quickly squashed that idea. It had been a success, but it still wasn't a particularly fond memory for either woman.

"_Control, Two Lima Four: permission to commence bombing runs, heading 224.6, over."_ The voice was still just as stoic as ever. Maybe he hadn't been worried before. Maybe he hadn't had any fear they wouldn't get the job done, or many he hadn't realized there were only three soldiers in the area.

Shar watched as the gun burned. Shots fired from the sky above and the gun burst into bright purple flames. Shar's gaze turned higher and she spotted the nose of a UNSC battle cruiser moving in. Fire rained down on the area and Kat moved the warthog out of the way of some debris. A phantom moved in from the south and Shar prepared to fire. With the combined fire of the cruiser above and her rockets, the phantom was engulfed in flame. It gave Shar the perfect view of the three longswords as they sped over head toward their target.

"_Good work, Noble Six. UNSC air support: skies are clear."_ For words of praise, or encouragement, for some reason Carter's voice just didn't seem to convey it to Shar. She would keep it to herself, but she had a feeling there was more ahead, and she was sure they all knew that this was going to be a very long day.

The warthog had hit a bump, and the next thing Shar knew she was tumbling. On instinct she pushed free of the jeep and landed a distance away while the warthog flipped and once more landed on its tires. It wasn't really damaged, but it allowed her to see why they had rolled. A ghost had charged toward them and was now turning to make another attack. Shar moved to the back of the hog and climbed back into the turret. She waited until the ghost was running away before she fired. The shots sent it flying but the light vehicle landed right side up. When it charged forward again Shar fired, obliterating the small purple enemy.

Kat continued down the path, ignoring the phantom overhead. Needle rifle rounds hit Shar, causing her shield to drop a quarter before she turned and spotted skirmishers. She fired on the ridge where they were gathered but they all jumped out of the way. Kat moved around the turn and up the hill to where the skirmishers had started. Shar fired and the one that hadn't jumped down was burned away.

Shar tuned her turret, spotting a much larger threat. She opened fire on the wraith as it tried to ram them. Only due to Kat moving out of the way at the last moment were they not hit head on. The side of the hog was still clipped and Shar's shields nearly shut down under the force. Shar opened fire on the clear side of the wraith and all the rockets hit. Kat hit the gas, sending them down the hill. When they reached the bottom she spun the vehicle around 180 degrees and Shar found them still facing an in tack wraith. She let loose another salvo but they all missed as the wraith slid out of the way. The alien tank fired and the shot sored overhead, close enough that Shar felt the heat. It took twelve more rockets to finally take out the tank.

Realizing that the wraith had failed to destroy the enemy the remaining skirmishers once more opened fire. Kat ignored them, getting them back onto the path and moving over the temporary bridge piece that allowed them to continue on. They reached another broken bridge and this was a much further drop. Still, when they hit the bottom Kat managed to keep them on all fours.

The problem was that she stopped. Shar looked down at the other woman. Something seemed wrong, though Kat wasn't saying anything. Shar opened fire on a few skirmishers ahead and once they had all fled she climbed out of the back. Kat moved out of the vehicle as well and, although she wouldn't admit it flinched a bit as she hit the ground. Shar decided not to ask. Even if she did, she doubted that Kat would fess up to any injures.

Deciding that from here on it would be better to go on foot Shar took off after the skirmishers. She killed the remaining ones and then realized that something was wrong. She looked back to the hog where Kat was still standing. Shar ran back over, placing a hand on the Lieutenant Commander's shoulder. She seemed to snap back to reality, but didn't say anything. Shar frowned, a bit worried that the crash had done more damage, and that the close range rockets hadn't helped. Shar moved into the driver's seat of the warthog and Kat climbed onto the turret.

Shar glanced back one more time at her teammate before they set off down the winding road. They bounced over a slight bump and Shar was surprised to hear an amused laugh from Kat. It was odd, but for now she would let it go, hoping that Kat would snap out of it. She'd finally made it back out to open area when she caught sight of a structure ahead. It was stuck into the side of the rock walls.

"_Noble Six, there's a mining facility near your location, the Covenant are using it as a Command outpost. Troopers on sight have already engaged_." Shar glanced back at Kat, wondering if she should tell Carter about what had happened, but decided not to. He seemed to have enough to deal with. For now she would just focus on this new location.

Shar moved along the side of the valley between her and what she guessed was the mining facility that Carter had just spoken of. The UNSC troops were set up at one end while a shade turret and Covenant ground troops were set up on the other. Shar moved to the UNSC end of the bridge. The sight of enemies seemed to snap Kat back to her senses and she fired. Rockets splashed over the covenant side of the bridge, engulfing a few Covenant in flames. Shar got out of the warthog, leaving Kat to fire on the enemies from afar. Shar took aim with DMR, taking out a few grunts and sniping the shade gunner with ease. Shar slowly worked her way across the bridge, taking aim at some jackals on the higher levels but it was hard with the extreme angle.

Shar moved to the other side of the bridge. The marines and Kat all moved across with her. "_New intelligence: friendly sources near the Covenant outpost have spotted a high value target." _Shar perked up at the news from Dot. "_An elite zealot in fact."_

"_Eyes on the prize, Noble. Take out the Zealot if you get the chance, but keep moving toward the spires_." Shar figured that was Carter's way of telling them to get it done, but not to get obsessed with getting it done. Really, there was no way that Shar was going to let that Zealot get away from her.


	14. Tip of the Spear Part 3

Tip of the Spear Part 3

Taking point Shar moved up a flight of stairs to the catwalks above. She stopped as she spotted a bit of covenant and UNSC equipment. She paused for a moment before deciding to grab the add on to her armor. She hadn't used it very often, as it wasn't very useful for most situations, but at this moment it could be. It was a simple piece of equipment that like all others Shar knew how to easily equip. She attached it to her armor and was ready to move. When she used it the device would create a simple copy of her image. It wasn't solid, just a hologram but it did for enemies that weren't close, and most small Covenant fell for it. The real issue was that it only ran in a straight line, and if it got caught on something it couldn't just jump past it, it just ran in place.

"Free to engage." The words of, from what her HUD told her, was Vic DeLeon, snapped Shar to the task at hand. She rounded the corner he was standing by to find a pair of skirmishers. She shot one in the head and ran forward, bashing the second's skull in. She then moved across the platform to another set of stair. At the top of the stairs the catwalk circled around a large metal cylinder. A jackal appeared and she just continued on, smacking it down with ease. A second appeared and she tossed a plasma grenade at its foot. The explosive stuck and a moment later the bird-like alien was blow into a ball of blue.

Shar moved around the cylinder and found two jackals and a grunt. She fired three times, one shot hitting a jackal's foot and the last shot hitting its skull. Shar backed up, moving out of the way of the plasma as it streaked through where she stood. She then moved back around, one shot hitting the grunt in the skull followed by a one-two foot-head combo on the jackal. Shar continued on, determined to find the Zealot.

She moved up the next stairs and found a trio of grunts. She took out the first with her grenade launcher and then moved back, switching to her DMR. The two remaining grunts were trying to make their way up the stairs but Shar killed one half way up and moved after the other. At the top of the stairs she found the grunt, and a veteran grunt. She elbowed the first grunt and it let out a pitiful sound as the strike killed it. She moved after the second grunt but was surprised to find herself instead facing an elite and two jackals. On instinct she tossed a plasma grenade and moved backward. The elite let out a sound of surprise and the grenade went off, taking out the two jackals.

The elite moved back and Shar took cover. Her shields were drained a bit but not enough for her to really worry. She moved along the upper walkway and found herself facing the officer elite at a stationary turret. She quickly grabbed her grenade launcher and fired, detonating the grenade at the elite's feet. The blast alone didn't kill him, but the resulting explosion of the turret did. Shar heard fire and moved around one of the metal covered columns in time to see Kat smashing the skull of a grunt in. At least she didn't need to worry about Kat taking care of herself. With the area clear Shar moved on.

Shar rounded the corner and found an officer elite standing below. She fired with the grenade launcher but it was too late, the elite had jumped down to the level below. She fired once more at it as it was running away before she found something much more interesting. On the area above where the officer was heading stood a Zealot elite. Shar grabbed her DMR and opened fire, making every shot count. Ten shots later and the elite's shields were finally down, allowing Shar to put a bullet through the elite's head.

"High value target has been neutralized. Impressive, Six." Shar was actually sure that Kat meant the words. There was a hint of adoration for the shooting skill, not that Shar didn't think Kat couldn't have done it herself, but the battle rifle the Lieutenant Commander was holding wouldn't have worked well for the fight.

Shar moved to where Kat was standing, where the officer had stood before jumping down. She looked through her scope at the enemies ahead. Jackals were near the bottom and one more was up at the top. She spotted the officer elite reaching the top of the stairs and decided to take him out from afar. Only five shots were needed to take down the officer's shields and allow the bullet to find the aliens elongated head. She then quickly sniped the jackal crouched nearby before turning her sights on the enemies on the lower level. She killed a trio of grunts, killing two with bullets and the third dying due to the impact of a ruptured methane tank from a fallen grunt.

Shar jumped down from her position, following the path that the officer had taken to get up to the higher landing. The Zealot had been there, so there must have been a reason why he was guarding that spot. Shar made her way up the stairs, killing the last grunt on the way, to the area where the officer and Zealot had been. She found nothing more than a large hole that had been busted into the area. She looked down and spotted black armored grunts. From above she fired down at the grunts, managing to kill two of them before she ran out of ammunition.

Luckily there was a UNSC supply crate nearby and she dropped her DMR, grabbing an assault rifle with full ammunition. Ready and armed Shar dropped down into the hole, where she found a pair of grunts. She brought her fist down on the skull of the one facing away from her and then turned her attention to the second grunt who was now firing with its needler, though at a slow pace. Two quick steps and she was on it, fist colliding with its face and sending it falling limply to the floor. With the area clear she moved down the stairs where two more grunts were waiting. She opened fire and easily cut them both down.

"Mining facility secured, Six. Move on at your discursion." Shar glanced back toward Kat who was making her way down the stairs. It was really the only indication that Shar was right and something might be wrong. Kat was effectively handing over control of what they did to her.

Shar moved on, making her way out of the back entrance of the facility. Shar stopped as she noticed a heavy Covenant weapon lying on the ground. She dropped her grenade launcher and put the plasma launcher on her back. She then moved out the wide back gate and found three ghosts and a revenant, guarded by some grunts. She cut down the first grunt but the second hoped into a ghost and took off.

Not one to let an enemy get away, and a fan of the quick moving vehicles, Shar climbed into the revenant and fired on the ghost. She stopped, turning back and allowing the ghost to get away so Kat could have a chance to climb into the passenger's seat. With Kat as securely in place as she could be Shar took off after the ghost. Shar rounded the corner and found herself face with a minor elite, some grunts, and the ghost that had gotten away. Just great. She fired on them, killing two of the grunts with ease. She then turned her attention to the ghost. After a few missed shots she managed to hit it twice head on, causing it to be blown to bits, also killing a grunt nearby. It took three shots from the revenant with the combined fire of Kat in order to take out the elite but the area was clear and they could move on.

They were making their way around a corner when Carter spoke to them. "_Update, Six: scans show another Covenant AA gun ahead of your location._" The orders were normal, but it struck Shar as odd that Carter was still talking directly to her. She glanced over to Kat beside her, wondering why he hadn't given then instructions to her. Maybe Carter knew Kat well enough to know that there was something wrong with the woman. She pushed those thoughts to the side, staying focused. "_I want you to neutralize that gun, by any means necessary." _Carter's tone made it evident how serious he was, and that he really meant anything.

Shar moved on down the path. She found three parts of a broken bridge, a broken warthog sitting alone on the center piece. If Shar were a deeper person she would have thought it looked like a symbol for humanity, attacked on all sides, broken and beaten, but still in one pieces and probably still functioning, but Shar wasn't a deep person. To her it just looked like a broken piece of equipment, something that couldn't help her.

She moved on, slowing as the shot from a wraith hit a bit ahead of them. Damn, they were going to have to deal with some heavy weapons. Shar pressed on, though, determined to get the job done. She moved past an officer elite who was trying to follow. She fired, killing one jackal and then running a second over with the revenant. Unfortunately this left her facing one of the wraiths. Without thinking Shar opened fire. The first two shots in the front and the wraith charged forward. The revenant was much faster and easier to move. Shar simply moved it around and while the wraith was facing the wall opened fire on its unprotected back. It took five more shots before finally the wraith fell to the ground and broke into a series of explosions.

Shar charged around the west side of the area toward the second wraith. What she was doing was either stupid or fearless. She hoped it was the second. This time Shar was ready. She moved in close enough that the wraith couldn't hit her and started to fire. When it tried to charge she moved out of the way, leaving it to ram some trees while she attacked its unprotected back. She'd nearly destroyed it when it tried to turn tail and run from her. This left it completely open to her attack and a moment later it imitated the first and erupted into blue fire.

Shar then set her sights on the ground troops. She made her way through the area and with Kat's combined fire, they easily too out the grunts and the elite that was with them. She then set her sights on the gun, finding skirmishers and a pair of hunters in her way. Shar moved the revenant back and forward to avoid hits while she opened fire on them from a distance. Eventually she moved in a bit closer and took out two of the three, but that was when the other aliens decided to join in.

A hunter moved forward, taking aim, forcing Shar to change her attention. She used the same swaying technique she had used against the skirmishers, but this time it was saving her life. A few times the blasts from the hunter's gun came close enough that she was sure it would have been able to peel the paint off her armor if not for a centimeter or so. It took almost fifteen hits from the revenant to kill the hunter, but she wasn't done. The second hunter was standing behind some rocks, and she knew it would come for her. One thing she was always sure of, a hunter would hunt down those that killed their bond brothers.

It was a risky move but Shar moved in closer, trying to get the hunter to come out where she could shot it. Sadly it worked and she started to fire. She hadn't realized it, but she was moving closer and closer, and soon enough she had moved too close. The hunter fired and the blast hit the nose of her revenant. The metal heated and scorched. She moved back and looked around, trying to spot the hunter. She finally found it, standing in the doorway to the base of the gun. She fired and the shot hit it dead center. The blue metal of its armor burned and she could swear she could see some of the orange eels inside burning as well. It fell and Shar let out a long breath. She shouldn't have been so stupid as to get so close. That could have ended much worse. Though it seemed like stupid was working for her right now.

She moved around the gun to the more open side of the base. She took aim and moved part of the way into the doorway, opening fire. It took a few shots but finally the warning sirens blared and she reversed the revenant quickly. The gun above smoked and sparked as its circuits overloaded and were fried. Shar continued to fire until the top of the gun exploded into shrapnel. She then turned the alien vehicle around and headed back down the slope. At the base of the area they found a pelican dropping off marines, and a phantom dropping off Covenant. Since stupid seemed to be working she drove forward without another thought. Shar found only grunts and it took a few quick shots to kill them all off.

"_Well done, Six. ONI needs up-close recon on those spires, we're gonna fly you the rest of the way_." Shar glanced toward Kat, wondering why Carter hadn't given any orders for her.

"_Jorge has a Falcon inbound to your position, Lieutenant. Highlighting the LZ now."_ Shar hopped out of the revenant and searched the skies.

"Commander, I'm going to set up a forward observation post here." Kat got out of the revenant as well.

"_Copy that, I'm waiting on new intel. See what you can see, Carter out_." The words were hurried, and Shar felt like there was more he wanted to say, but maybe he didn't have the information for that now. Whatever it was she didn't need to be worried about it.

The falcon's landed and Jorge was leaning out of one side. "Need a lift, Spartan." She could almost see the grin on his face.

Shar hesitated for a moment, looking back at Kat. She thought of saying something, suggesting that Kat see a medic but Kat simply waved her off. That might mean she was going to see a medic, or it might have just been Kat's simple way of saying 'you're not the boss of me, only Carter's the boss of me and I don't even listen to him all the time'. Shar really couldn't tell. She turned and moved toward the falcon that Jorge sat in, taking the gunner seat.


	15. Tip of the Spear Part 4

Tip of the Spear Part 4

Shar wasn't a big fan of flying, but with grenade turret in hand, she felt much more at ease. The falcon was making its way through the canyon and Shar searched the area for any targets. She didn't like how stationary flight was for her. She liked being on the ground, or on tires, or on a stolen anti-gravity vehicle. Flying was not so much her thing.

"Top of the canyon, dead ahead." Shar turned her attention ahead of them were a bridge stretched across the area. She opened fire, easily killing the enemies. She set her sight on the enemies ahead. There were shades set up and she opened fire. It only took three shots from the grenade turret to destroy them and she made quick work of them as they moved. She then quickly destroyed a wraith before taking out the last of the shades.

"_Nice shooting, Spartan."_ The pilot diffidently seemed pleased with her work.

"Stay sharp, Six, we're not out of the canyon yet." Shar glanced back at Jorge but for the most part ignored him. She was focused, she was sharp, she didn't need to be told.

"_There's the spire."_ The pilot's voice gave away that he was frightened a bit by it.

"_Solid copy, Dot."_ Carter's on the other hand showed that he didn't seem to hold such fear.

The falcon slowed as they reached the edge of the shield. "_Latest intel suggests these spires may be projecting electromagnetic cloaking shields_." Shar frowned Electromagnetic never meant anything good for electrical equipment, or vehicles.

"Priority One, pilot. Gotta know what's in there." Jorge's tone was gentle yet forceful. It seemed to do the trick.

"_Affirmative, sir…Here we go."_ The pilot still didn't seem sure but he pushed forward anyway.

As soon as the falcon hit the shield everything went wrong. They started to fall and were spinning out of control. Shar released the turret, knowing it would do her no good. Her hands grabbed the side of the falcon and held on tight.

"_Lost all power. We're going down."_ The pilot's voice was calm as he tried to keep them under control for the crash.

Shar turned to her left where Jorge was holding on tight as well. "Lock your armor, Spartan!"

"_Brace for a hard landing_." There was something oddly cold about the pilot's voice as Shar prepared for the hit. It was like he knew what was coming.

Shar hit the ground, hard, and everything spun for the second time that day. She finally came to a stop and was able to get her bearings. She pushed herself up, looking toward the wrecked falcon. She could feel her bones protest the movement as she stood. Warm liquid slid down her face as she stood. Her head hurt and she was sure she had some damage, but she would ignore it for now. She looked to her right and found an assault rifle, grabbing it. Shar forced herself to her feet, surveying the area. She spotted Jorge standing beside the ruined vehicle. He picked up his machine gun and turned his attention to her.

"Crew's dead, we shouldn't stay here." His voice was quiet. He was right, the Covenant would know, they would come looking. She wondered for a moment if he felt any guilt over it. He had pushed the pilot forward, convinced him to move on, and now the young man was dead. It was an interesting thought, but for now it was a question that would have to wait. They still had some information to gather.

Shar moved to the equipment that Jorge had gotten from the ship. She grabbed the familiar bulking back equipment and attached it. It linked up to her systems as soon as it was on and she noticed an indicator for fuel appear. She reached back and her metallic fingers ran over the pack carefully. Questions raced through her head, as often did when she used this piece of equipment, questions she would never have answered. Realizing that Jorge was watching her. She pulled herself back to task and moved on.

"Commander, we've got eyes on the spire. Looks like a staging area." Jorge started to move after Shar, staring up at the spire. Shar cursed as the blast of a focus rifle hit her. Shar moved to cover, collecting herself.

"_Copy, we have your visual. Dot's working the problem, stand by."_ The words were distant in Shar's ears as she pulled herself together for the fight. She moved along the west wall, making her way around a large rock. She used her assault rifle on a nearby grunt and then took out her DMR, quickly head shooting two skirmishers. A third of the nimble Jackal cousins skidded into view and she quickly sent its light body flying with a bullet to the skull.

Shar moved forward, spotting a group of five grunts. She tossed a grenade, killing two of them before opening fire on the remaining grunts. Shar moved up the hill toward the spire. She found a group of jackals with an elite. She tossed a grenade, killing all three jackals. She opened fire on the elite, cutting down its shields but expending her full clip of assault rifle ammunition. She ran forward slamming her fist into the elite's chest and sending it flying back against a rock. The leadership class alien fell to the ground, dead.

Shar looked up toward the spire, really getting a look at it, when she saw something that stunned her. A phantom seemed to appear out of nowhere, moving off as though nothing was wrong. "_Noble Five, ONI believes those spires to be teleportation terminals._" Dot's voice didn't seem at all as worried as Shar felt at the moment. With a teleportation terminal the Covenant could bring in all kinds of forces.

"Teleporter? Linked to what?" Jorge moved up on Shar's left as she took aim and was firing at the gunner of a fuel rod shade at the base of the spire.

"_Frigate _Grafton_ is on station ready to kill that spire, but first we need to power down its shields_." Carter's voice gave away that he was eager to see it destroyed.

"Understood." Jorge turned toward Shar. "Six, I'll hold these bastards off, you find a way to the top of the spire." Shar thought of making a comment about him taking the easy route, because she was sure the top was going to be heavily guarded, but she stopped. She didn't know him well enough to joke with him.

There was a small dip down at the bottom and Shar decided to start there. She took aim with her DMR, killing a grunt below, and then taking down an officer elite who wasn't even able to figure out where the shots were coming from before her bullet found its brain. She quickly dispatched the remaining grunt and skirmisher that stood in her way before she moved. She dropped her DMR and grabbed a focus rifle that had fallen nearby. She took aim at the fuel rod shad that had a new gunner. The focus rifle didn't do much so she grabbed a needle rifle from the nearby Covenant ammunition containers. It took two shots for the grunt to fall from its post.

She moved down the rocks and toward the dip in the landscape. She killed a few grunts that had arrived after she had cleared out the others. There was still a group at one end of the area but she ignored them, moving instead to one of the cyan tunnels on either side of the bottom tunnel. The light enveloped around her and she found herself being lifted up, gaining speed as she moved to the top of the spire.

"_Noble Leader, Six is on her way up."_ Shar could almost feel Jorge watching her as she moved up higher and higher.

"_Get in there, take out that shield, Lieutenant_." Shar gripped her rifle a bit tighter at Carter's command. She could do it, she would do it. They had to stop this thing. She reached the top of the spire and landed safely on the ground. "_Spartans, I'm en route with a Falcon. We'll pick you up as soon as you knock out power to that shield."_

Shar moved out to the outer platform of the upper area, making her way toward the enemies. "_Ready when you are, Six."_ Another comment about him having it easy was on the tip of her tongue but she swallowed it, staying focused on her mission.

Shar moved round the side and saw a special operations grunt. She tossed a grenade. "_Hurry, Lieutenant. We got a frigate inbound to blow that spire as soon as the shields are powered down_." Whatever Shar was going to say to Carter died in her throat as she spotted more enemies.

Shar tossed a second grenade, sticking the foot of the grunt. The sticky exploded, sending the corpse and fuel rod gun the little alien had been holding, flying sky high. The elite that was manning the controls turned toward Shar and pulled out a weapon. The blade flared to life and the elite charged. Shar opened fire with her assault rifle but the elite moved forward. When it got within striking range it skidded to a halt and Shar took her chance. Her elbow smashed into the large helmet of the ultra elite and it was sent back several feet. Shar quickly grabbed her needle rifle and put a round through the elite's head.

Shar dropped her assault rifle and grabbed the energy blade, moving toward the controls. She quickly cut through the three remaining grunts and moved to the controls. "_Lieutenant, drop the shield and get out of there._" Shar didn't need Carter to tell her twice. She hit the controls and the shield fell.

The shield fell and Shar ran for it as quickly as she could. The falcon appeared off the side of the spire and she didn't even think. She leapt from the platform around the upper level toward the falcon, just hoping she would make it. A strong hand grabbed her arm and helped to pull her up. Shar pulled herself up into the falcon and sat down across from Jorge, nodding thanks to him.

Carter hit the roof of the falcon. "Get us out of here." The falcon started to move away and Shar relaxed a bit in her seat. "Control? This is Noble One. Spire One is green, and you're free to engage. Have a nice day." The last words were light and Shar actually smiled a bit at them as she watched the spire.

"_Copy that, Noble One. Be advised, all ground units: Frigate Three-One-Eight heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized._" Shar frowned at the words from Control. MAC rounds, in atmosphere.

Apparently she wasn't the only one thinking that. "MAC rounds? In atmosphere?" Jorge sounded stunned by even the idea. Not that it was a common occurrence.

"One way to get their attention. Hang on to your teeth, People." Carter grabbed his seat and Shar and Jorge did the same.

The UNSC frigate dove down toward the planet, angling toward the spire. There was a great shudder and the high velocity round hit the spire, shattering it into pieces. It almost looked beautiful. Things suddenly took a turn for the hellish as a line of plasma appeared through the midsection of the frigate. Explosions rippled along the ship as it started to fall apart.

"_New contact. High-tonnage."_ Shar didn't need Dot to tell her that. She could see it for herself.

"No. _No!_ Somebody tell me this ain't happening?" There was real panic in Jorge's voice.

"_UNSC frigate _Grafton_, Do you copy_?" Air control was trying, but Shar could see that they would get no response. So many lives gone so fast.

"_Grafton_ is dust! We need to get out of here now!" The same edge of panic was evident in Carter's voice. Shar had to admit she was feeling it herself. She watched as the frigate fell toward the planet and above it the familiar lines of a Covenant supercarrier hung in the air. Shar gripped her seat a bit tighter as she remembered seeing the same ships in the skies over her own home worlds so long ago. Now they were at Reach, and they were ready to unleash their might.


	16. Long Night of Solace Part 1

Long Night of Solace Part 1

Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet

August 13, 2552 20:07 Hours

The steps of the scarab echoed in the air as it passed by the cave. It didn't even seem to notice the Spartans, more interested in destroying the UNSC forces that were ahead of it. There was dust in the air and as the sun was starting to set there was a dark and depressing feeling. It seemed to fit perfect with how badly things had turned out after the UNSC had taken down the spire.

"_Our foe is more devious then we had imagined_." Dot's words seemed to be an understatement. Every time that Shar thought she knew what to expect from the Covenant they came up with something worse. "_That spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked, Covenant Supercarrier…A grave threat._" Another understatement. Shar moved into the cave, nodding to Kat and Carter as she entered. Jorge, and Jun were not far behind her. "_Thankfully help is imminent. Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive in forty-eight hours._" Dot's words were optimistic, and it annoyed Shar. Forty-eight hours was nothing to be excited about.

Jorge tossed the case he was carrying over toward Emile who was crouched in the cave. The assault specialist looked up. The two soldiers just seemed to stare at each other, as though they were having a conversation. For all Shar knew they were. With both of their helmets on they could have been using a private com channel to talk to each other. Though she didn't have any idea what they could be saying to each other.

"Forty-eight hours?" Jun reached up, removing his helmet. "That's _imminent_?" Shar had to agree. That didn't seem to qualify as imminent to her. Jun looked over, spotting some amber that were stuck to Jorge's shoulder armor. He reached up, dusting away the burning bits. He looked toward the entrance of the cave. "Uh-oh. Who's your money on this time?" He sounded a bit worried about it.

Jorge didn't hesitate for a second. "Her." He reached up and removed his helmet. It seemed to Shar that if they weren't in combat and Jorge wanted to talk to someone he always took his helmet off. It was an oddly personal thing that he seemed to do, as though he always wanted to talk to people face-to-face.

Jun looked upset. "You always pick her." His voice was whining a bit, as though he was upset with the Spartan II's choice.

Jorge tucked his helmet between his hip and forearm. "She's always had him dialed in." The larger man turned his gaze to Noble One and Two.

Shar did the same, watching them carefully. Carter was sitting on a large rock while Kat stood only a few feet away from him. The both of them had already taken off their helmets. It wasn't like they could do them any good in this situation anyway. From the look of it they were trying to plan. Kat made a few motions, and from the look on her face she was trying to show how hopeless she thought the situation was. Carter said something back, though from this distance Shar couldn't hear him. He looked like he didn't know what to do, like there weren't any visible options and it annoying him. Kat tilted her head to the side and Shar saw a familiar look on Kat's face as she spoke back. Carter looked hesitant as he answered back, she could almost say a bit afraid. Kat said something back, still light, and hoping to break through. Shar saw Carter say the word No. His face was serious and she could swear there was still something else there. Like he was afraid to hear the plan, but she couldn't think of what would cause that. Kat's face was hurt as she said something back. Carter looked like he regretted the hurt she showed. He said something back and Kat leaned in. The two of them spoke back and forward. It was almost beautiful to watch as the two of them worked perfectly together as Kat explained her plan.

When Carter finally looked like he was convinced, or beaten as Kat would probably call it, Shar and the others moved over to them. Jorge spoke up first. "What's going on?"

Carter turned to Kat. "Go ahead. Explain."

Kat reached over to grab the kukri from Emile's shoulder plate. Emile reached up and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "May I?" Her tone was pleasant.

"Don't cut yourself." Emile's voice lacked any real emotion to it. More like he was too tired to really care.

Kat pulled the kukri from the armor and then crouched down, flipping the blade over. She set the tip of the blade on the ground as she looked up at the rest of Noble. "Objective? Destroy Covenant Carrier in geosynchronous orbit above us." It was good to see Kat in her element. Shar hadn't truly seen it since CARTWHEEL and she wondered if this would be as exciting.

Jorge looked over toward Carter. "This sanctioned, sir?" His voice was quiet as he spoke.

Carter glanced over at him as he answered. "What do you think?"

"Oh." From Jorge's answer he was hesitant of the plan, but Shar had a feeling it wasn't that out of the ordinary for them. She wondered how often they did things that hadn't been sanctioned.

Kat continued. "Method? A slip-space drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system? Us. Solvable? Getting us up there. That, and getting our hands on a slip-space drive." Kat stood back up. She tossed up the knife just enough to grab it by the blade as it fell before she passed it back to Emile who gladly took it. "Thank you for sharing." Emile took the blade back and shoved it back into place on his shoulder.

Carter looked frustrated. "So…all we need is orbit-capable transport, and the single most expensive piece of equipment made by man?" It was obvious that Carter was still doubting the plan. Shar almost felt like for that moment he was more of the second in command, while Kat had taken the lead.

Kat put on an innocent look and she seemed very relaxed. "As a soldier in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources." Kat's tone was light, as though she had done nothing wrong. "That said, a good place to look might be…I don't know, the nearest nonexistent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor…And in which our newest member was _certainly_ never a pilot." Her tone was triumphant and her gaze was locked on Carter. It was a bit odd to Shar but she let it go. Maybe they were in competition or something.

She felt all the other soldiers look at her. Emile looked back to Kat. "You're scary, you know that?" Shar had to agree. That was one of Shar's deepest, most classified, secrets. The fact that Kat was acting like it hadn't even been a big deal to get the information. It meant that since Shar had last seen her, Kat had gotten even better at hacking. No one should have that kind of skill.

"All we need is a green light from Holland," Kat finished.

"Good luck with that." Carter must have actually forgotten he was the leader. He didn't look like he fully believed in the plan, and as though he were the number two who'd been outvoted by his leader.

Kat held out the datapad. "You're the one asking him." It was like a second victory, she didn't even have to justify it to the Colonel, that was all on Carter.

Noble one reluctantly took the datapad and stood up. He turned away from the group and moved a bit away. "Oh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this." He tapped the pad to make the call.

**Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, Farkas Lake, Eposz**

**August 14, 2552 12:48 Hours**

Shar was a bit restless as the falcon approached the beach. It slowly lowered until it was low enough the Spartans could jump down. Jorge, Kat, Carter, and Shar all jumped down from the vehicle. The flacon rose up and away while the Spartans all scanned the area for pray. They were a distance away from the launch facility.

"Bit of a hike to the launch facility." Jorge looked around, feeling uneasy. He probably didn't like having to make a long walk. She couldn't blame him with the fact he had to carry around a machine gun turret everywhere.

Carter looked back at his team. "Anywhere closer's too hot to land."

"Copy that Commander." Kat's response was odd to Shar, like since Carter had agreed to the plan she was being submissive and agreeing with him. Maybe that was how they worked. He gave in and agreed to a plan and she would then not fight him.

Carter motioned them forward. "Move up the beach, Noble."

Shar moved toward the east where there was a crevice they could use to get closer. She looked toward the skies where seraph fighters streaked overhead. She spotted the tail end of a spirit close by. They had company already. Maybe the Covenant knew that Spartans would be here, but she doubted that they truly knew why Noble team was there. Carter took the lead with Kat and Jorge trailing behind. Shar took up the rear.

"Target in the air and inbound," Kat warned.

The Spartans moved on. Shar spotted a group of grunts to their left, lobbing a grenade behind the rock they were using as cover. The small aliens went running and Shar cursed as the explosive managed not to kill any of them. She moved down take them out when a pod hit the ground not far away. The front door of the drop pod broke away and an officer elite jumped out. Shar opened fire on the officer but it dodged to the side, just as plasma fire from the grunts streaked through the air. Shar threw her second grenade and this time it took out three of the grunts. Shar moved back, reloading her weapon before she moved up to join the rest of noble team, taking aim and spraying bullets at a grunt and quickly taking it down. She moved forward and spotted a second pod. A minor jumped out of this one and Shar swapped to her pistol. She shot it twice, her third shot missing the elite and shooting a jackal behind it in the head. Two more shots and the elite's dead body went tumbling to the ground.

Shar heard a groan to her left and she turned to see Kat and Carter engaging the officer. Shar joined them. She unloaded the two remaining shots in her pistol into the elite, giving Carter and Kat the perfect chance to take down the shields and kill it.

Shar's gaze turned to the right where she spotted a third pod which opened up to reveal another officer. She moved forward without any hesitation, keeping her shots on the elite. Four shots and the shields were down. She fired once into its chest before it back tracked to cover. Shar spotted a fourth drop pod but didn't see what had come out, only a jackal standing above.

Shar swiftly reloaded, moving around the rock and placing a single round into the officer elite's forehead. She turned to her left just in time to see an ultra elite, armed plasma grenade in hand as he prepared to throw. Shar moved back and the grenade missed her. She heard Kat shout a warning, likely to Carter who had moved forward with Shar to attack the ultra. Shar moved to the side well out of the blast radius of the grenade by the time it went off. She moved around a large rock, taking aim at the ultra. With her pistol and the combined fire from Carter's DMR they took down the shield and finally Shar shot the white armored alien in the head.

Shar moved forward to try to take out the jackal but ducked behind cover as needles streaked through the air toward her. She was just about to finish it off when Jorge opened fire, easily cutting down the jackal as he and Kat moved forward.

Shar moved toward the facility, finally able to really see it. It reminded her of the one that she'd originally trained at when she'd been a part of the program. It was the familiar dark colors of a human structure, long angular lines, so different from the sleek curves and bright colors of the Covenant. Shar didn't have much time to marvel at it as she spotted a spirit ahead, dropping down jackals.

Shar took aim from a distance and after four missed shots a pistol round found its way to the skull of a sniper jackal on a high up rock. Shar moved forward, taking the lead and passing Jorge.

"More hostiles, in the rocks to the south." Shar glanced at her compass. So there weren't just the jackals she was already shooting at. She prepared for whatever might be on the other side of the rocks. Shar moved back a bit, allowing Jorge to take the lead. "Root em out." Jorge moved forward, firing into the rocks.

Carter moved forward with Jorge and Shar moved out of cover with them and saw what the enemy was. It was grunts. The Spartans pushed forward, Shar shooting the grunts in the head while Jorge tore them to pieces with continues machine gun fire. Shar moved forward toward the jackals. She tried to shoot them in the foot but found that with the pistol it just wasn't as reliable and didn't work. She backed up, reloading and moving over toward Kat, hoping to get a better angle. She spotted an ultra elite at the top of the hill and backed off as needler rifle rounds streaked past her head.

Shar moved back around, as the jackals had all turned to Kat. She tried a bit with her pistol but gave up, changing to her assault rifle. She took down two jackals before she was shot twice in the chest by a concussion rifle. Shar turned and ran, moving back down the beach to cover. She cursed that she hadn't paid attention. Her shields had been down and now her chest burned and she could feel the blood that coated her mouth.

The rest of Noble pushed forward and as soon as her shields had started to recharge Shar moved up to join them. When she reached the top of the hill she found that Noble had taken care of the rest of the jackals and the ultra elite. Shar opened fire on the last remaining enemy, a lone jackal that was shooting at Kat, who had moved ahead of the others.

Shar moved up the ramp of the facility, quickly taking out a sniper jackal. She heard a female trooper shout that they had arrived. Before she entered the building she moved over to a box of equipment. She grabbed the armor lock and quickly attached it. If she'd had it from the start she was sure she could have avoided her current injuries. She took a deep breath, just glad to have her old friend back in place. She moved over to the right side of the entrance and quickly dropped her pistol, grabbing a DMR from the rack on the wall. Something else she could have used from the start of this mission. She then moved over to the wall and opened the medical kit that hung there. She grabbed the bio-foam canister from the kit and stuck the nozzle into the injection port. The foam expanded in her chest and she felt a little bit better. The pain was still there, but it was manageable.

Shar moved into the facility, finding that the rest of Noble had waited for her. "Flight control's this way! They're expecting you." Shar spotted the trooper who had spoken. He was watching the entrance, rocket launcher on his shoulder. The building shook around them and the trooper moved to cover the Spartans as they moved deeper into the facility.

They moved up a ramp toward a second of the facility that looked like it had been hit hard. "Still can't believe Holland said yes to this." Honestly Shar had to agree with Jorge. It was hard to believe, but maybe things were that desperate.

"Well, some plans are too good to say no." Shar glanced over at Kat as she passed her, noting that Carter looked back a bit. She wondered how often Kat used that line or something like it.

"Let's get that Sabre airborne before he changes his mind." Carter was trying to keep them focused as they moved deeper into the facility.

Shar moved into the next hallway, passing another trooper. "We got a wraith on the lower platform!" Shar ignored him. He had a rocket launcher. What did he need her for?

"_Control's right through that door, Commander_." Shar moved to the door the second trooper spoke of. She looked back, realizing that the marine at the entrance to the hallway was frozen. She sighed and moved over to the gaping hole that had been blown into the side of the building. She looked down and spotted the wraith. She quickly snipped the grunt out of the turret with her DMR. She then turned and continued on her way, taking the lead as she moved to the door.

The thick metal slid back and Shar moved up the ramp. When she reached half way she heard a scream and a body went flying through the air, hitting the wall. An officer elite moved up and she took aim. Six good shots to its body and one to its head and the fallen soldier was avenged. Shar moved into the next room where there were several fallen troopers. She moved through the room, ignoring the bodies. She would do plenty of damage with this mission to make up for the lives lost. Before leaving the room she moved over to a rack to the left of the exit, grabbing a shotgun and tossing aside her assault rifle.

The next door opened and an echoing voice warned that the facility had been breached. That seemed like an understatement. The next room seemed to be a strategy room. A holotank stood in the middle, the image of a Covenant corvette hung a foot over the surface. Bodies of soldier were all over, one even tossed over the holotank. Shar pushed the thought of their deaths from her mind. She needed to be focused, but she felt guilty as these soldiers had died before this mission had even gotten started.

Noble team gathered as the metal shutters lifted and for the first time in so long Shar gaze upon a Sabre. She forgot how must she had enjoyed the program, and how beautiful she thought the ships were. She took a deep breath, running through all the information she'd need for the launch.

"Jorge, Six: get to the Sabre before the Covenant can wreck it," Carter ordered.

"What about you and Kat?" Jorge seemed hesitant. Maybe he didn't like flying.

"Jun's on his way with a Falcon, we'll exfil after you launch. Move! That was the end of the conversation. Jorge reluctantly turned and moved after shar as she moved along the path to the stairs that would take them up to the cockpit.

The trooper at the base of the stairs saluted. "Launch teams, Sabre is prepped and ready for launch."

Shar nodded quickly moving up the stairs with Jorge behind her. Shar easily climbed up the side and slid herself into the front seat, feeling comfortable in the familiar seat. Jorge climbed in behind her, settling in. The platform moved away and the ship and the cockpit slid closed. Shar did the system checks, being sure everything was in order.

"_Struts disengaged_," A clear female voice announced. "_Commencing launch in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2_…"

The engines ignited under them and Shar felt the Sabre start to shake. It started to rise and they were propelled into the air. Shar watched the gauges as they broke into the atmosphere. Other Sabres rose up into the air after her. The computer's robotic female voice spoke. "First stage engine burn nominal." Shar checked the gauges and screens again as they reached low orbit. "Stage separation in 3, 2, 1…Stage separation." Shar felt the sudden jolt as the booster rockets detached and fell away. The secondary rockets fired and the Sabre sped toward its destination. "Second stage ignition confirmed." Now that she was out of the atmosphere Shar took control of the vehicle leveling them to be parallel with the planet. She rolled the ship so that they were right way up. She turned toward anchor 9, grabbing the controls and moving to join the other Sabres.


	17. Long Night of Solace Part 2

Long Night of Solace part 2

Anchor 9 sort of looked like a mess, at least in Shar's opinion, though she thought that way of most space stations. It looked like a ton of blocks of metal just floating in space. Only the main section of the station really looked like it was anything with any design. It looked to be three vertical lines in the sky, connected through the middle by a fourth line. The only real way that you could tell that it wasn't just junk in space was the lights that glowed along the sides here and there. It looked so fragile, and Shar was sure that if the Covenant wanted to a carrier could take it out with ease as their stations didn't have any form of energy shield to protect it.

The other Sabres all angled up and Shar watched them go. She was running diagnostics on the equipment. There was no room for anything to go wrong. The strong voice of Colonel Holland filled her helmet. "_Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo-oh-two-niner, over._"

"Copy, Actual. Colonel Holland?" Jorge's voice didn't give away his confusion but he was cut off as Shar did a quick turn and then a maneuver to turn herself over. She needed to be used to the controls, not really caring how it affected Jorge. In the end it would save his life and if he got a little sick from it then he'd have to deal with that.

Shar continued to run through evasive maneuvers as the Colonel replied. "_Affirmative, Noble Five. Welcome to Operation: UPPERCUT. I'll be your control from here on out._" The UNSC must be putting a lot on them winning if they were putting a Colonel in charge of the mission.

"Understood, Colonel," Jorge replied.

The Colonel's voice took on a bit of a tired tone. "_Noble Six, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense; you may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous at Anchor 9 with the Frigate Savannah and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out._"

Shar didn't need much time. She tested the machine gun turrets and rockets and checked over the controls. She had indicators of what weapon she was using, shield strength, that was new as the ones she had worked with had never had shields, her hull integrity, and the thruster heat. She easily slid back into the position of a pilot. It was like riding a bike, if that bike cost millions of dollars and required months of training in simulators even to be allowed into a cockpit.

"You're all warmed up, Six: we should head for the Savannah." Shar frowned at Jorge's words. How did he know if she was warmed up? She highly doubted he understood anything that was going on or how complex the Sabre really was. Still, she pushed it from her mind and turned the ship around and headed for Anchor 9. She could see the frigate docked on the far left of the station. "Multiple unidentified contacts." Jorge must have been watching their radar, as she didn't have that on her screen but she'd used it back when she was training.

"_Savanna Actual to Sabre teams, be advised: we have bodies inbound._" The voice was calm as the communications officer relayed the information.

The voice from Anchor 9 was not as calm. "_Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are down. Requesting combat support until we can bring them back online._" Shar wondered what had taken down their defensed, but she ignored it. She had to defend the station or the mission would end here.

"Here we go, Six. Show them what you can do." Jorge seemed actually eager to see how good of a pilot she was. Shar would just have to show him how good.

Streaks of light appeared in the distant and Shar turned to face them. As her targeting reached them it indicated they were banshees and how far away each one was. She fired with the machine gun, anything else being over kill for such small crafts.

"_Defensive batteries are at 56%; hang in there, Sabre teams._" The voice of the Anchor nine control was sounding much calmer, or at least more hopeful. For now Shar didn't care that they couldn't help. Banshees she could handle. They were good warm up.

Shar weaved between the hunks of metal in the space. Each time her targeting icon became red she fired and the shots would streak across the sky, rewarding her after a couple hits with a ball of fire that indicated another dead Banshee. The sound of the other pilots filled the coms as they warned each other of their own actions. She was careful of where they were and soon enough the skies were clear of the smaller fliers.

"_Anchor Niner to UNSC ships: impulse drive signatures detected, fighter-class. Heads up, Sabres,_" Anchor control warned.

An icon flashed at the bottom right of one of her controls. The red print read multiple inbound signatures, fighter class. Fighter-class, that could only mean one thing in Shar's mind. It must be Seraphs. That meant that she'd need to change her strategy. Simple machine gun fire couldn't take down the shielded fighters.

The sleek fighter ships that were Covenant Seraphs moved into the area, and quickly. The good news was that they left long trails to follow and track. Holland's voice gave out the orders. "_Sabre teams: use your guns to take down their shields, then hit 'em with your missiles._"

Shar took aim at the first seraph that she spotted, firing on it with her machine gun. The shields of the ship flared and then broke apart. As soon as the shield was down Shar switched to missiles and once the system had locked on she fired. Four rockets were fired and they streaked after the seraph, hitting it and causing it to burst into flames.

"_Defensive batteries at 79%; buy us another minute Sabre teams._" From Anchor control's tone they were working their hardest to get the system back on line.

Shar used the gun then missal strategy on a second seraph and was searching for more when she was fire on from behind. She made a gradual turn as to avoid hitting the other ship but managed to get it to pass her before she chased. It tried to escape but she stayed on its tail, machine guns chipping away its shield. Once she'd let loose her salvo of locked-on missals she turned to find more enemies, knowing that the rockets would find their target. She took out the final two seraphs before turning back toward the station to head back to it. The closer she was the more she would be able to defend it.

"_Anchor Niner to all craft in the vicinity, be advised: we show a large attack force inbound. Combat air patrol and Sabre teams are directed to engage and defend the station." _ Shar was starting to think that Anchor control was going to be like Sword control, never have any good news.

"Is there any place the Covenant isn't?" Shar could hear the slight frustration in Jorge's voice. She ignored him, staying focused on their new duty; defend the station from whatever is tossed at them.

Anchor control's voice came back on, this time sounding very pleased. "_Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are back online. Clear the lane and we'll light 'em up._" Finally some good news.

There were flashes as seraph fighters appeared along with banshees. Shar moved into action, chasing down a seraph and taking it out. She turned back toward the station, firing on the banshees that filled the sky.

She took out ten of them before Anchor Control cut in again. "_Anchor 9 to Sabre teams: Phantom signatures detected on forward facing vector._"

Shar turned to face toward the enemy. Fire from the station filled the air, cutting down banshees that got in the way. There were flashes of light and five Phantoms appeared. Shar switched to missiles and locked on to the first Phantom she saw. It took two salvos of rockets along with the stations fire to take care of the ship.

"_Anchor 9 to all UNSC fighters: multiple inbound Phantoms headed straight for our defensive batteries. Sabre teams, marking high-value gunboat targets now._" Anchor control fell silent and red markers appeared on Shar's HUD, allowing her to better find the targets.

She took out a second phantom before she turned to a third. She fired on it, sending rockets flying, but fire from the side turrets hit her and as her shield dropped to 5% she turned and moved away. There was no room for taking risk. She turned back, shields recharged and moved down after the phantoms. It only took seconds for the station's fire, with her missiles, to take out the two remaining phantoms. With the main targets finished Shar turned her attention to the few Seraphs and Banshees that remained. Compared to the phantoms they were easy to deal with.

"_Anchor Niner to UNSC Ships: All targets neutralized. Bravo-oh-two-niner, you are clear to dock. Activating marker._" A nav point appeared leading Shar to the docking station she could use. She turned back toward the station.

"_Holland to Bravo-oh-two-niner. Noble Five, you ready to go?_"

"Affirmative, Colonel." Jorge seemed eager, as though sitting in the passenger's seat for that fight had gotten him ready for combat, but with no way to assist.

Shar eased toward the middle docking station. Mechanical arms folded out to grab their Sabre and hold it in place.

"I'm out here, Six." Jorge sounded a bit disappointed to be leaving his teammate. Shar didn't care. There was no real good to having a passenger after all.

A female voice filled Shar's helmet as the automatic warning was set off. "Warning: M-Spec re-entry pack disengaged."

"I need your override," Jorge requested.

Shar punched in the override. "Warning: M-spec re-entry—" The warning cut off. "Cockpit depressurization complete. Canopy release lever: armed." Jorge pulled the lever and the cockpit slid open.

Jorge climbed out of his seat, still holding onto the Sabre so he wouldn't float away. He double checked his direction and with one push sent himself floating through space toward his actual target. Shar watched him go, only able to watch. "_Ez megszakab a szivem_…" Shar wondered if Jorge was aware that he'd left the com open, not that she knew what he had said.

"_Noble five? Please repeat,_" Dot requested.

"_Pull up surface grid, nineteen-by-twenty-two."_ Jorge's voice was quiet.

"_Gladly. ONI Sword Base: Sector 18-G_." Shar hit a few controls and brought up the same image on her own HUD. There were explosions going on across the planet.

"_Thermal enhance._" Jorge sounded a bit desperate to see.

"_Noble Five, your pulse is elevated. There is nothing you can do for Doctor Halsey and the others inside Sword Base._" Shar cut the link to her HUD. She didn't want to watch the planet below as it was being destroyed. "_The mathematics are determinate…Noble Five?_"

Shar looked over toward Jorge who had reached the pelican that carried the makeshift bomb. "I know." Shar barely caught the words as Jorge said them. She frowned. The Spartan II was so attached to the people in Sword Base, something she never understood. Halsey hadn't shown any real care for the fact that Jorge was alive, even had been rude to him, so why would he care that she was in trouble? Why be so attached to someone so cold, who wasn't a friend back?

Shar pushed those thoughts to the side as Anchor control came over the radio. "_Bravo-oh-two-niner, you are clear to re-engage thrusters._"

Shar hit several controls and her just as Holland spoke. "_Noble Six, this is Holland._"

The metal arms released her Saber and she was free. "Go ahead, Colonel." She cringed. Moving her mouth had only reminded her of the still lingering copper taste of blood in her mouth.

"_We've flagged a Corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target._" Shar slowly backed her Saber up and out of the docking station. "_Get our makeshift bomb on that Corvette, and we have our delivery system. Noble Five will escort the bomb. I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding."_ Shar moved away from the station.

"Understood, Colonel." She had orders, and that was all she really needed.

"_As she's already donated her slip space drive to the cause, the _Savannah_ will be joining you to provide local fire support_." Shar was glad to hear that from the Colonel. That kind of power would help them stand a change.

The eager and determined voice of Savannah Actual cut in. "_UNSC _Savannah_. Our wings may be clipped, but we've got you back._"

The Sabres, frigate, and pelican all moved away from the station. "_I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one, Lieutenant._" The Colonel seemed worried about what would happen if the mission went wrong.

"We'll get it done, Colonel. Six out." Shar now had even more of a reason to do this right. The Colonel had put himself in the line of fire for the blame. She believed in the man, and she wasn't going to let him down.


	18. Long Night of Solace Part 3

Long night of Solace part 3

It didn't take them long before they neared the Corvette ship that they were targeting. "_Target Corvette sighted within visual range of NAV Beacon RA-15_," Dot informed them.

"We have visual. Target confirmed." It was hard to mistake the ship for anything else. Shar checked her systems again and prepared for what she knew would be a hard fight.

"_Frigate_ _Savannah in position. Sabre teams: Sound off_." The communications officer sounded eager.

"_Echo 1, all systems nominal_," a female voice reported.

"_Echo 2, good to go_," the deep voice sounded a bit bored.

"_Echo 3, system green_." This man sounded younger, and more ready for the fight.

"_Echo 4, all systems online_." The final voice sounded like it belonged to a veteran, a marine that had seen plenty of combat. Shar just hoped they would all be able to handle what the Corvette would toss at them.

Shar hadn't been paying attention through it. She'd done her usual forget she had teammates thing, and had started to fire missiles at the Corvette's engines. One erupted into blue fire, trailing behind the ship.

Savannah Actual cut in. "_Solid copy. We are currently jamming the Corvette's comms, hit it hard while it can't call for help_." Well at least Shar didn't have to worry about back up.

"_Agreed. Sabre teams, clear a path to that Corvette_," Holland ordered. At this point Shar had already fired on a second engine, moving out of the way to avoid hitting the actual ship.

"_Might wanna clip her engines, Colonel. See if we can slow her down_." It was a good idea from Savannah Actual, but Shar was way ahead of them.

"_Good thinking, Savannah. That will make boarding her a whole lot easier. Noble Six, I'm marking targets: take out the Corvette's main engines_." Shar at this point was mainly ignoring the Colonel. She knew what she was doing. Sure, she hadn't really gotten to use a Sabre for this situation, but she could handle it.

She'd taken out the first two engines with ease but she found it harder to get a lock on the remaining two. When she tried to make a pass plasma would streak off of the side of the ships, damaging her shield and causing her to have to turn away. She eventually decided to do something a bit reckless and moved to the rear of the ship. She got as much distance as she could before turning and locking on to the first engine. She fired and the engine exploded. She turned to the final engine and fired her missiles, giving herself just enough time to do a quick roll to the side and avoid colliding into the ship's rear. All the shots found their target and the Corvette was crippled.

Shar tried to fire on the guns on the side of the ship but stopped when she spotted something streaking through the air, a Banshee. Where had it come from.

Dot's voice filtered through over the sound of the Sabre engines. "_Warning: Energy flares detected in the Corvette's aft launch bays._" Shar saw the issue. Seraphs and banshees were now flying about looking for targets.

"_Heads up, Sabres: multiple impulse drive signatures detected, more bogies incoming_," Savannah Actual warned.

"_Echo 2 to Savannah Actual. Where are the reinforcements coming from? I though the target was jammed_." It was a question that Shar wanted answered as well.

Savannah Actual didn't sound sure but took a guess. "_Must be squadrons coming back from patrol, Echo 2_."

Holland's voice cut in, urging them to action. "_Don't let any of them get away, Sabres! Kill them before they bug out and warn that Supercarrier what we're up to_." Shar was certain that the Seraphs had no idea what was really going on, but she wasn't going to let any get away. It took them a little while but they finally managed to take out all of the Seraphs, clearing the way.

"_Dot, analyze all available data on that Corvette. Find a way inside_." Colonel Holland sounded a bit desperate, maybe he was worried something else would go wrong before they could get on board.

There was a pause before Dot answered. "_Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on top of the vessel_."

"_Noble Six, set down immediately on the Corvette's topside landing pad_." Shar turned, eager to do as she was ordered quickly. She and the other Sabres all landed on the top of the Corvette where there was an odd transparent field, likely to keep in oxygen for the crew. They moved out of their Sabre's every movement careful as they were in space. Shar readied her DMR. Things were only going to get harder from here.

Shar moved toward the edge of the translucent area. "_Noble Six, the Savannah's counter-measures won't work forever. Find a way inside, and permanently disable the cruiser's communications,_" Holland ordered.

Sher looked down just in time to see an elite Ranger jumping up. She fired with her DMR once before it got close enough and she slammed her elbow into its dome shaped helmet. The hit sent if falling back through the shield and into the ship.

"_As soon as we're sure the Corvette can's squawk, we'll initiate UPPERCUT phase two_." Shar nodded wishing she could flash a green light to the colonel. That was how Spartans told each other that they understood, and speaking didn't seem that appealing to her right now.

Shar switched to her shotgun and waited, and sure enough, the ranger jumped back up, right in front of her. One shot and the alien's dead body was sent floating out into space, nothing to stop it from drifting forever. Shar didn't hesitate after that. She jumped down, finding an elite with its back turned to her. She moved up behind it and she charged forward. Her elbow hit its side, causing it to turn before she pushed forward, tackling it to the ground. Her forearm hit its throat, sending them both to the ground. She straddled the enemy, grabbing its helmet and pulling it back while she pulled out her knife. She quickly stabbed the elite in the throat under its jaw. She could feel the blade of the knife hit the ground on the other side of the elite's throat. She climbed off, returning her knife to its place on her armor.

Plasma hit her and she turned to face another ranger. She ran forward, her fist hitting its chest and sending it back. Unfortunately this sent her flying back a bit too as there wasn't full gravity. Shar switched to her DMR and fired quickly, killing the elite. She moved toward the troopers, finding one more ranger who was retreating from them. She chased after, one shot hitting it to finish off its shields and the last breaking through the glass of its helmet and through its skull.

"_Holland to Savannah, enemy comm relay is now offline_." From the Colonel's words this must have been the comm room.

"_Copy that. Halting counter-measures, diverting all power and personnel to weapons_," Savannah Actual announced.

"_All right, Noble. Let's get that Slipspace bomb on board. Six, head for the hanger_." Shar frowned. The Colonel hadn't said which was the hanger was. She turned and spotted a door, moving toward it.

The doors opened revealing another ranger and a collection of veteran grunts. Shar took aim at the grunts first but the ranger ran forward. Without thinking she tossed a plasma grenade. The ball of blue light stuck to the elite's shoulder and a second later detonated, sending the alien's body floating to the ceiling where it stayed.

Shar pushed her way through the hallway, taking out the grunts with ease. "Colonel, on our way to the hanger," A trooper reported.

"_Noble Five, meet 'em there."_ With each word Shar could see why the Colonel was a leader. He sounded like one, someone who you can trust to give you orders. She didn't even think twice about the decisions he was making, just did as he told her to.

"_Affirmative, on approach_." Shar frowned at Jorge's reply. The doors had slid back revealing grunts and elites in the hanger. She need to take care of them before they could enter. What more, they were shrouded in pink light. An engineer must be nearby, just what she needed to make this even more annoying.

Shar opened fire on a ranger as it jumped drown from an upper platform. It took a few shots but she killed it before the engineer's shield generator could kick in. There was a flash of pink light above, giving away the engineer's location. She aimed and fired four shots at it before needles and plasma hit her. Shar took a step back as the grunt started to gather below. She took aim once more from a bit further away and fired. The shot caused the engineer to detonate into a blue mist. She always felt bad about killing them as it wasn't their fault and when not used as floating shield generators they seemed to be rather peaceful creatures.

Shar decided she would make them pay for making the peaceful creatures into slaves. She waited behind a railing, knowing that the grunts would come after her. When her motion tracker indicated that they were close, she tossed a plasma grenade. Once it had gone off she moved out of cover, and fired on the grunts. She shot one half way down the ramp in the head before running to one only inches from her. As she turned she stuck out her elbow, slamming it into the creature's neck and sending the body flying. Another tried to run but she put several bullets into it before it died. A fourth grunt moved forward and Shar shot it twice in the head, once to take off the helmet and the second into its soft, perfect for headshots head.

Shar moved up a side ramp, wanting to get a better angle on her enemies. She killed one grunt before setting her sights on a ranger across the way. She'd put four shots into it before it started to try to jump out of the way. She tracked it, putting a final fifth shot into its shield and then a sixth into its brain. She searched the floor but found nothing below. Shar turned to head down when she spotted a grunt heading up. It had just reached the top of the ramp and she moved forward. She fired once, taking off its helmet before she charged forward, right hand reaching out, grabbing its skull and squeezing. The bone broke easily in her grip and she let the body fall to the ground.

Shar moved down the ramp toward where she had started firing on a grunt half way up the ramp across from her. She fired once before she moved forward. The grunt tried to run but stumbled, falling back. Shar ignored it, though her foot did come crashing down on its head as she made her way up the ramp to where a trooper was firing on another grunt.

She reached the top of the ramp just in time to see the trooper fire, the bullet causing the grunt to skid back a bit and fall through a small hole. Shar wasn't about to let it get away that easily. She moved to the opening and looked down, putting a bullet through its head from above.

Shar heard the sound of jetpacks and spotted the final ranger jumping up to the highest platform. Shar switched to her shotgun and charged forward. It had just started to fire when Shar reached it. At only inches away she fired, blasting a hole in its gut.

"_Six, go for those shield controls. I need in_." Jorge was sounding impatient.

Shar jumped down from the platform, making her way over to the only holographic controls she could see. She moved across the hanger and up a ramp to a platform. Shar looked over the controls and just randomly tapped an icon. It must have been right as the shield flickered and then weakened so that things could pass through.

The pelican eased its way in, landing not that far away from the door. The rear opened and several troopers followed by Jorge exited the vehicle. "_Powder keg, is aboard, Colonel_," Jorge reported.

"_Copy that_." Holland sounded pleased. "_Six, get your fireteam to the bridge; the Corvette's refueling run with the Supercarrier will have to be initiated manually_."

"Yes, sir." Shar surprised herself as she realized this was the most she'd talked since she'd joined Noble team. Then again, the Colonel kept taking to her personally and she couldn't just remain silent.

"_Five, stay with the bomb and discourage the curious_." Once more Shar felt that Jorge was being given the easier job, but she wouldn't question Colonel Holland's orders.

"My pleasure." Jorge didn't seem all that worried as he turned to Shar. "Hear that Lieutenant?" His tone was light and slightly joking. "I'll be all by my lonesome back here. Make it quick, would ya?" If it wasn't for the fact that Shar was fairly certain that the entire thing was a joke, she would have hit him for that.

Shar joined her team of troopers as they moved to the south doors of the facility. As they had come through the north it was really the only option. "_Noble Six, get that Corvette moving toward the Supercarrier. Head for the bridge. Find the NAV controls,"_ Holland ordered.

"Got plenty of arms and ammo if you need 'em, Spartan," a trooper offered.

She ignored him, moving toward the door. For now she was fine without more ammunition. The door opened revealing two surprised grunts and a pair of officer elites. Shar quickly dispatched one grunt with a head shot and then slammed her fist into the second grunt's head. She cursed as the combined plasma from the elites hit her, taking down her shield and heating her skin. She tossed a grenade between the elites before she backed off a bit. She didn't wait for her shields to recharge, the adrenaline from the pain soaking into her veins. The grenade had taken down the officer's shields and she moved forward, getting an angle on one of them around a shield. One shot and the body was sent flying to the ground.

Now Shar moved back, reloading and allowing her shields to recharge. Her body ached but she ignored it. The new slight burns along with the injuries from the launch facility were starting to wear on her. She moved out of cover as the second officer turned to run. The troopers fired, causing it to turn around and taking down its shields. Shar moved in, putting a round through its skull.

"_Savannah to Holland: sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel_!" Savannah Actual sounded rushed. They must have really been in danger.

Shar moved down a hallway, listening as Holland replied. "_Copy, Savannah. Our team is in, disengage!"_

Shar moved down the hallway and through a door to the left as it seemed to be glowing brighter. They came out into a room where the controls for the guns mounted on the side of the ship were. "_Break off! Break off! Hull breach, reactors flaring! Dammit, I'm losing her!" _There was real panic from Savannah Actual as they tried to keep things together.

From where Shar stood she could see the frigate as fire erupted along its mid-section. Shar took action, jumping down from the platform and moving up to the ultra elite that was manning the guns. She climbed up onto its back and stabbed her knife into the base of its throat. Anger took over for all the lives that were being lost aboard the Savannah and she twisted the blade before she sliced up the elite's long throat. They both fell to the ground and Shar stood, putting her knife back on her chest armor.

Shar looked out through the transparent shield watching as more and more fire burst forth from the Savannah before finally the midsection of the frigate exploded into one great ball of fire. "_Savannah Actual, can you hear me." _It was a desperate attempt from the Colonel but as the ship broke apart and continued to burn Shar knew it was hopeless.

"_Frigate's gone, Six…Nothing we can do_." Shar watched as the Savannah's wreckage drifted away, numb to Jorge's words. She reminded herself that she didn't care. That those soldiers had done their duty and had died with honor. There was nothing to feel bad about.

"_Noble, you're in deep with no cover. Get that Corvette moving and get the hell outta there_!" Holland's words snapped Shar to task. She gripped her DMR tighter and turned, running toward the control room. This plan would work, had to work, the crew of the Savannah had given their lives for it.


	19. Long Night of Solace Part 4

Long night of Solace part 4

Shar entered the bridge of the Covenant ship, readying her shotgun as she looked around. Elites in what was distinctly special operations armor walked about with grunts here and there. She ran forward toward the closest elite. The need for blood burned in her and she climbed up the elite's back, pulling out her knife and stabbing. The blade broke through the slit in the elite's helmet for the eyes and into the alien's brain. The grunts went running and shar moved to cover. She knew there would be more, and worse here.

A grunt ran toward her, armed plasma grenades at the ready. She pulled out her DMR and shot it in the chest twice, causing it to falter enough that the explosives went off in its hands. She spotted a general across the bridge. So there was something stronger here. She surveyed the area, spotting two grunts with the elites. Shar moved behind cover, peeking out just enough to shoot one of the grunts in the head.

She heard the sound of marines shouting and moved over toward them. Two special operation elites, visible only because a few shots had hit them causing them to glow a blue color, along with the general were firing on the troopers. She joined them, taking down the shield of one of the special op elites and then finally putting two rounds through its throat. She ran toward the second special operation elite. She fired once, hitting it in the head and taking down its shield before she moved up to it, slamming the butt of her gun into its jaw. She heard bone crack and the body went flying to the ground.

There was a shout from a grunt and Shar tuned to find the final grunt trying to kamikaze her. She fired twice with her DMR but the grunt kept coming. She cursed as she had run out of ammunition and was forced to switch to her shotgun. She fired once on the grunt, killing it and causing the explosives to detonate far away from her. She was hit by something else as the general opened fire on her. Shar moved back to where the marines had been taking cover.

Shar took a deep breath, reloading the one spent shell before she moved out of cover, shield starting to recharge. She moved to find the general had moved down to where she'd been when it fired on her. Without thinking Shar ran down to the general, shotgun at the ready. It took two close range blasts to take down the enemies' shields, and a third to finally take down the general.

"_Move, Lieutenant! Put that Corvette on a refueling track to the Supercarrier_." At Holland's orders Shar jumped back up to the main controls and found where the track was. She activated it and the symbol changed to a crimson red. "_Well done, Noble Six. UPPERCUT initiated, Corvette is underway_."

Shar started to move around the area, looking for something to replace her spent DMR. "_Six, our ride outta here is taking heavy fire! Get back to the hanger,_" Jorge ordered.

Shar moved toward the exit but found it blocked by grunts and a minor elite. She tossed a grenade and ran to find a weapon she could use. The grenade drove the enemies back a bit, long enough for her to grab a plasma rifle from the first special operations elite she had killed. She ran toward the minor elite, firing as quickly as she could. The elite's shields fell and she moved up to it. Her hand grabbed its helmet and slammed its skull against a nearby pit of metal that she'd used for cover earlier. The helmet broke and blood seeped down from where the elite's head had hit. She let it fall, turning to the grunts. The plasma rifle easily cut down the two grunts with just a few shots. Shar moved out of the bridge and back toward the hanger.

When they reached the gun room a door on the upper end opened and grunts moved out. Shar moved around to cover, trying to get a bit of surprise on them. "_At your earliest convenience, Noble Six_." Shar ignored Jorge. She was working.

Shar ran into what remained of the grunts and jackals, plasma rifle blazing. They were cut down in a matter of seconds and she moved up the ramp to the second level. She fired on the grunt standing at the top of the ramp and paused, deciding she'd used too much battery. Shar dropped the plasma rifle, grabbing the grunts fallen plasma pistol.

She moved through the final hallway and into the hanger. As she moved she dropped her plasma pistol for a plasma repeater one of the officers had dropped earlier. There were grunts moving about in the hanger and Shar fired, and the grunts went running. One ran toward her, grenades in hand but the plasma repeated fired, burning over the grunts body until it fell. She switched to her shotgun and moved toward the back of the pelican, dropping the plasma repeater and picking up a sniper rifle.

The rifle felt right in her hands and she took aim, snipping a jackal major that stood in the middle of the hanger. The troopers took out the last of the jackals and Jorge turned to her. "Good of you to come, hostiles are pounding the hell outta the Pelican."

Shar ignored him, moving over to a case and putting down her shotgun for a DMR, must more useful. Shar waited for more to come and finally a trooper shouted. She heard needler rifles fire and turned toward them. She killed one jackal with the foot head strategy at the base of one of the south side ramps before turning her attention to a sniper jackal that was half way up. It stood still as it aimed, giving her the perfect split second she needed to send its dead body flying back with a bullet to the head. A second moved up to take its place and Shar easily took it out as well.

Shar heard Jorge opening fire on more hostiles and she moved to join him, using his fire combined with hers, to knock a jackal back so she could splatter its brains all over its shield. Shar moved over to join Jorge, finding one more jackal and several more grunts. She fired on the jackal but as the grunts tried to join the fight, she was forced back a bit. Shar tossed a grenade, close enough that the blast killed one grunt. Plasma hit her from the side and she turned to fine a grunt had moved up behind her. It took one quick shot to the head to take out the small alien. Shar moved forward, taking out one more grunt before she realized there was a bigger threat. An officer elite was crouched nearby. She opened fire before it really noticed her, giving her enough time to drop its shields and charge in. Her fist collided with its throat, cursing the alien's windpipe and sending it flying back against the wall. The body slid to the ground and Shar reloaded her weapon. She moved around to head back to the center, coming face to face with a grunt. She didn't stop, as she passed it, her elbow struck out, snapping the grunts neck with swift force as Shar moved back to Jorge.

The door to the north opened and grunts came pouring out. Shar opened fire, downing five of them quickly. She had seen one get away so Shar moved toward the ramp it had taken. She heard the sound of elites and turned the corner to find two minor elites. Shar took aim with her DMR and fired, the rounds hitting the closest minor elite in the chest until the enemy fell to the ground. Shar moved back down, shooting at the bit of the second minor that was visible. It wasn't long before its shields were down and she moved up after it. One last shot to the head and the body fell to the ground.

Shar moved back toward the pelican and heard more elites. She found herself faced with ultra elites. Shar took down one of their shields but another one moved up on her side causing her to have to move back. She tossed a grenade but the elite moved out of the way.

Shar moved back to the other side of the pelican for cover, switching to her sniper rifle. She peeked out , firing at one ultra elite. The first shot hit, but the second and third missed. Shar switched back to her DMR and moved toward them. One charged forward and Shar fired twice before it got too close. She slammed her fist into its chest, downing its shields and sending it skidding back. Shar raised her rifle and fired once, sending the body crumpling to the ground.

A second ultra elite moved up and Shar opened fire on it. The round hit the enemies shields and it fired with duel plasma rifles. Shar let out a sound of pain as the blasts hit her, taking down her shield and she felt pain wash over her. She fired the last of her DMR shots at the elite and then switched to her sniper rifle. It moved toward her but still moved to keep its distance. Shar fired, her sniper round hitting a couple fuel canisters behind the ultra elite. They ignited, sending the body of the ultra elite soring through the air.

Shar cursed as a third ultra elite tossed a grenade. She moved over to the equipment cases and, although it hurt to let it go, removed her armor lock for the bubble shield generator. She moved a bit away from the pelican and placed a shield, allowing the numbing effects of the field to ease away her pain. The ultra elite moved around to the other side of the pelican, but it gave Shar exactly what she needed. It was away from the ammunition and weapons. Shar moved out of the shield toward where the cases were set up. She grabbed more DMR ammunition before she heard Jorge shout.

Shar moved over toward him to find that he was firing on the ultra elite. She joined and the alien went for cover. Shar moved forward, around the cover and faced the elite. They both opened fire and Shar felt her skin heat again, but in the end she took down the alien's shields and was close enough. Her fist struck out, a strong right hook which split the alien's skull and it tumbled to the ground.

Jorge moved to the back of the pelican. "Savannah did a number on the door. There's no way back up to the Sabres. Noble Six, form up on me." Shar moved to where Jorge stood.

Jorge moved over to check the bomb as Dot spoke. "_Distance is closing on this vessel's refueling track with the Covenant Supercarrier. Seventy-six seconds to endpoint."_ That didn't give them a lot of time.

Jorge hit the buttons of the trigger to set it. "Damn it." He tried again and it let out a beep indicating that it didn't accept it. "So, it's gonna be like that." Shar moved up behind him and he glanced back at her. His hand smacked the side of the timer before he turned to her. "Well, I've got good news and bad news." He motioned back to the pelican. "This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast. Which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity." Jorge let his frustration be evident in his voice.

"And the good news." Shar let her own be expressed in her voice. This just couldn't get worse.

"That was the good news," Jorge replied. Maybe things could get worse.

"_At current velocity, fifty-three seconds to endpoint_," Dot warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Jorge reached up, removing his helmet. He let it drop to the ground. Shar glanced down at it then back up at him, confused. "Bad news is, the timer's fried. I'm gonna have to fire it manually."

"That a one way trip." Shar wanted to argue. She didn't want to lose more people today.

"We all make it sooner or later." The words were dark coming from Jorge. He'd already made up his mind, he knew what he was going to do. "Better get going, Six, they're going to need you down there." Jorge reached up toward his neck, grabbing his dog tags. "Listen, Reach has been good to me." He pulled the tags from his neck and held up his hand. "Time has come to return the favor." Shar didn't hesitate. Her hand went to his, taking the tags. His much larger fingers circled around her hand, holding it tight. He pulled her in closer. "Don't deny me this."

Jorge's arm went around her waist and he lifted her up off the ground. She didn't fight him, wouldn't fight him. She knew she couldn't stay, she would have to jump, but if she could give him the one last favor of feeling as though he saved her by doing this, she would let him have it. He turned them and moved over to the doorway, waking a bit odd as he kept Shar pinned. He stopped at the door and she looked in his eyes. He was a man who had decided that he would do anything for the people of Reach, anything to save them. "Tell 'em to make it count." She saw more than felt him squeeze her hand just a bit tighter before his hands become a force against her, sending her through the door. Shar went hurdling through space, watching as she fell away from the Corvette. She was helpless to do anything more then watch.

The Corvette rose up toward the carrier and just as it reached it light sparked. A ball of light appeared under the carrier and in one great moment it expanded taking out one third of the ship in the center before it vanished, leaving the left over pieces of the ship to fall. A brilliant purple shockwave of energy spread out from the center of the explosion. There wasn't a trace of the Corvette, of Jorge. The energy washed over Shar and she felt her suits systems go fuzzy for a moment and the hair on her skin stood on end.

Shar shut her eyes, trying to push away the sorrow. "It makes a beautiful firework, Jorge. Wish you could have seen it." She didn't even realize she'd said the words. This was why she didn't get close to people. They only ever seemed to leave her, but here she felt this pain over her now fallen teammate. She hated this pain, hated that she ever felt this way. Her gaze turned to the side and her blood chilled as she saw Covenant ships drop out of slip space. She reached atmosphere and her body, combined with her injuries, couldn't take the force. Pain flooded her senses until it was enough to finally cause her to pass out.


	20. Exodus Part 1

Exodus part 1

Everything was black and every part of her body hurt. Slowly her eyes opened and the world came into focus. It was night, from what she could tell, but she had no idea where she was. Shar moved her fingers, good, her left arm was still moving. The limb was slow to react and the skin and muscles protested as she started to move. The landing must have been harder then she had expected.

Shar rolled to her feet and was glad to find that her legs still obeyed her command. She was a bit unsteady as she struggled to her feet. Her right hand moved to her left arm, gripping her forearm in pain. She looked up and spotted her re-entry pack laying a distance away. Although it hurt Shar limped toward the pack. Her left leg was having a bit of trouble holding her weight but as she flexed her left arm she found that the pain was enough she could push past it. She looked down at her one flesh hand as she flexed her fingers, being sure that they worked properly.

She finally reached the pack and knelt down, well more of fell to one knee as there wasn't any other way she could get down. Shar pulled the pistol from the pack, having been added so that Sabre pilots would have something to defend themselves after a crash. She pulled back the slide and was glad to find it in working order. That was all though that she would get from the pack as there was nothing else but useless metal. With no other choice Shar forced herself to stand back up and started to move away from the crash site.

She looked up at the mountains before her where the burning smoking wreckage of the Supercarrier lay, a monument to the sacrifice that Jorge had made to take it down, though it wouldn't be there long with all the cruisers that had shown up. If they didn't fight them all off then the wreckage would be glassed with the rest of the planet. The destruction was elegantly beautiful, like a painting done by a master, but she supposed as nothing but a soldier it was something that she would see as art. Civilians would see it is a reminder of the strength of the Covenant, of the foe that was out to kill them all. To Shar it showed how much one soldier's sacrifice could really do.

Shar attached the pistol to her hip armor and started to walk. She didn't know where, hopefully toward some sort of civilization. She traveled on, the nights and days becoming a blur as she stopped only to rest and give her wounded body a chance to recover enough to continue on. As she went the land turned from the snowy landscape she had landed on to grass and rocks, more familiar to her, somewhere people would want to live. She felt better, well as better as she could with no actual medical care and still having been injured from the fighting and eventual fall from space.

Shar could hear gunfire ahead. Grabbing the pistol from her hip she moved up the hill to find that the source was. As she reached the top she was disappointed by what she found, or maybe she was happy. A human city stood before her, a great metropolis, but there were powerful rounds being shot into the sky while three Covenant Corvettes hung in the air. The city was under attack, but people were still fighting back, meaning she could link back up with the UNSC here.

August 23, 2552 15:34 Hours

Shar let Jorge's dog tags swing from her hand. She still didn't understand why he had given them to her, maybe it was just sentiment, or maybe Jorge had wanted her to remember why she was fighting. She didn't need a reminder, what she was looking at now reminded her why she fought. She tucked the tags away and got moving into the city. The soldiers there would need her help, and she was going to give them everything she had. She was ready to fight, ready to kill some Covenant.

Shar moved into the city as carefully as she could. She moved along an upper level, searching for any sign of human or Covenants. She jumped down from the higher level to the pathway below. She hit the ground and swayed a bit, using the wall to right herself. There was no time to stop now. She kept moving, hugging close to the wall. There was nothing, only fighting far of in the distance. Shar jumped down one more level where a railing had been blasted away. She hit the ground and cursed as a new wave of pain shot through her. She took in a deep breath and harnessed that pain. She would use it to fuel her rage and fight the Covenant. There was no Noble around, no team to realize what kind of a demon she really was. By that logic, there was no reason she should hold back.

Shar moved to the west, heading toward the large building a way away from her. Her radio sprang to life and she heard human voices for the first time in what felt like forever. "_This is Kilo dispatch: all available teams, advance to Traxus Tower. Evacuation will commence ASAP_."

Another voice replied, this one obviously the voice of a ground soldier. "_Copy, Dispatch. What's the status of the tower pad?" _

"_Tower pad is green. Let's move these civilians before it changes_." Shar took that as a cue that she would have to hurry. If she didn't meet up with them before the civilians were removed then it was likely she would be left behind and have to hope she'd find more soldiers.

"_Copy Dispatch. Four-Zero out_." Shar remained silent as the Sergeant signed off. She would let her arrival be a surprise. Better if the soldiers didn't know that they would have help then her being late and not being able to help. Not to mention Shar wasn't sure if she could actually radio back without giving away where she was to the Covenant.

Shar passed by civilians that littered the ground. At the base of the ramp there were a larger number of them. People just leaning up against decorative planters that held leafy green plants at the base and bright red trees in the center. Shar pushed past them, moving toward the building. There was nothing she could do for the dead. The doors to the building were jammed halfway open. They kept trying to shut but then jerking back open as something was triggered.

Shar moved into the building, activating her night vision and bathing the building in the neon green glow. An information booth before her had the UNSC logo on one screen but all other simply stated that the system was offline. She wondered if it was offline because the AI in charge had shut it down to try to give the humans a chance, to keep the Covenant out.

Shar moved around the booth and the doors on the other end slid open. She spotted several skirmishers at the top of the stair walking about. She took aim and fired, a shot tearing through the skull of the first skirmisher. The sound of the shot, and likely the fact that they had only been dealing with average soldiers, caused the remaining two to run to the top of the stairs to fire down at Shar. They had only just started to fire when Shar shot twice more and the skirmishers fell like the first.

Shar moved up to the top of the stairs, noting that the signs on the wall said this was the civic center. She searched the floor but found no other enemies. She moved toward the only door that was open which was to the south side on the west wall. She noted the familiar triangle with perfectly round eye in the center that indicated section 3. She brushed it off for now.

She moved through the door and a deep voice came over her radio. "_Romeo Company, be advised: we have reports of Covenant suicide squads._" Great, just what Shar needed. Grunts that were out to die and take her with them.

Shar fired on a grunt, putting a round through its head before it could pull out any grenades. "_You've got to be kidding me_…" Shar couldn't blame the trooper for his frustration. In her armor she could survive, in their weaker armor, they were in major danger of plasma burns that could kill them.

Shar took a step forward and fired on instinct as another grunt head game into view. The shot pierced its skull and the grenades the suicidal grunt had been carrying went flying into the air "_That's a negative. Keep your eyes open, troopers_." Shar hoped that the man's words would be headed by the troopers. She wanted to get out of here alive with them, not show up in time to find their charred bodies.

The explosives from the grunt she had just killed exploded just in time for a third grunt to appear. Shar quickly dispatched it and held back until the fallen grenades had detonated far away from her. She then moved down the stairs to where the grunts had been standing. There was a doorway on the south side and she moved through. She rounded a corner and spotted the top of a grunt's head. She fired and the grenades of the grunt fell to the ground. She stayed in place, waiting for the explosion.

"_Kilo 26, this is Kilo 40. Covenant corvette is raining hell on us! Final Protective Fire-1, danger close, on my command, over!_" The voice of the Sergeant seemed a bit hurried but still rather calm.

The grenades had gone off and Shar fired on a second suicide grunt that came running at her. It fell easily and the grenades detonated as soon as they hit the ground, sending a box flying and the alien's body spinning as the tank on its back ruptured.

"_Copy, Kilo 40. Firing FPF-1 at your command_." Kilo 26's voice was calm as it did as ordered.

Shar reloaded her gun and moved down the stairs past the fallen grunts. She was keeping a close eye on her motion tracker to give her any hints toward where the grunts may be.

Shar moved down the hallway, past the burned bodies of the grunts but turned as she reached a doorway. "_Fire FPF-1, over_."

"_Firing FPF-1._" Shar absently listened as the Sergeant and Kilo spoke. The other half of her attention was on a crate she had found. "_Shot_."

Shar moved to the crate, grabbing the equipment and quickly attaching it. She checked to be sure it was on correct, and that it would work. For once it wasn't just her affection for the powerful Armor Lock that gave her reason to use it. With walking bombs running toward her it would be useful to save her life.

Shar moved to the top of the next set of stairs. "_Hold onto your helmet_." Stacker had just finished speaking when there was a loud dull boom and the world around Shar shook. Shar gritted her teeth as the vibrations sent new pain up her body.

She moved to the bottom of the stairs and then back up as she spotted red dots to her left. They likely would have seen her movement and would be running toward her now. Better to wait then run into danger, particularly in her condition. When she heard nothing, not even the frenzied screams of the grunts Shar moved back down the stairs. She turned as she reached the opening to the hallway perpendicular to where she was. Two grunts stood at the end of the hallway, not even looking at her. Four shots and the grunt closest finally fell. The second tried to pull out grenades and run toward her but before it could even take a step the fifth shot found its head.

Shar spotted a dot running toward her and she stopped to wait. A second later a grunt rounded a corner and just as it let out a loud yell she fired, the bullet tearing its skull clean through. The two grenades the grunt had been carrying flew through the air and Shar retreated half way up the stairs in order to avoid the explosives. As soon as they had gone off she moved down the hallway.

She passed what seemed to be a service cage, though there was no door. She moved in and looked around, spotting tools, hardhats, and coveralls. She let out a sigh of relief as she found what she was hoping for. A standard med-pack hung on the wall. Shar moved to it, looking through the supplies. Most of it was useless to her, but she finally settled on injecting herself with some painkillers. She was already full of bio-foam, and there wasn't anything else in the kit that could be useful. As the drugs flooded through her system the pain eased away and Shar tried to focus. She turned and moved out of the caged area.

She moved back into the hallway and through a door. She found that the two doorways in the hallway lead to the same small area with one opening on the opposite side. As she moved forward red dots appeared on her radar. She moved into the room without hesitation, the pain no longer in the way. She fired on the closest grunt as it stood there. It fell with two shots and the rest of the grunts were alerted. A second ran toward her, grenades glowing as it moved. She fired once, the round hitting the alien's head and sending the grenades flying.

"_Kilo 40: request FPF sit-rep._" Kilo's voice was partially trained out as the grenades went off.

Shar took aim at the third grunt in the room. Two shots hit its stomach before a third went through its head. "_Negative, 26! Corvette's still coming!_" Stacker was starting to sound a bit worried. Shar couldn't blame him. A looming Corvette was never good.

A fourth grunt appeared running through an opening on the opposite side of the room from Shar. She opened fire on the alien and it fell with ease. "_Copy, 40. Firing FPF-2….Shot!_"

Shar turned just in time to see a grunt running up toward her. She took a step back just as the second shot hit and the ground began to shake again. She fell to one knee and her fist hit the ground. The impenetrable shield snapped into place just in time as the grunt reached her and the grenades went off. Armor Lock snapped off and Shar stood, feeling very pleased. She reached back, her fingers lightly touching the piece of equipment. Silently thanking it for the help.

Once the shaking has stopped Shar moved through the doorway into the room the grunts had been occupying. "_Damn! How do you stop that thing?_" Shar could hear the edge of anger in the Sergeant's voice.

Shar moved through the room to the other side and into a smaller room. There were what looked to be tanks, or something. At the moment she couldn't focus enough to really care what they were. She passed by them to a doorway on the other side. Her gaze turned to a level above her. There was a large line of suicide grunts all running down the zigzagging stairs to get to her. She started to fire. She killed the one in the lead and it hauled all the others, causing them to be engulfed in fire.

The ground shook again below Shar and she shifted her footing to stay in place. When it had stopped she checked the area, finding it clear of anything but the bodies of grunts. She moved into the room and up a ramp on the west side of the room. Once she was sure that the upper level was clear she moved to a doorway to the side.

The metal slates slid up and she found herself staring into a hallway that led outside. She snapped off her night vision and moved toward the open doorway at the other end of the hallway. As she reached the doorway a Spirit ship rose up and she spotted three brutes on the open sides, firing toward her. The spirit moved away and Shar moved outside.

"Help! Somebody help us!" The panicked voice of the civilian surprised Shar a bit. She hadn't thought there were any civilians still around.

She moved over to a fallen soldier leaning against a railing and grabbed the assault rifle from the ground. Not her favorite weapon by far, but it would have to do. She moved down the stairs to where she spotted a brute attacking a man.

"Come on! Let's go." Shar opened fire and realized that she wasn't the only one. Two troopers were moving toward the enemy.

Shar continued to run down the stairs. She rounded a support beam and opened fire on the enemy again. In a matter of second the creature was dead and surprisingly the civilian scrambled to his feet.

"What are those things?" One of the troopers asked. Shar often forgot that brutes weren't an enemy that most soldiers met. And those that did never forgot them.

"Brutes! Move to cover." The troopers formed up behind Shar as she started to move toward the civilians that were taking cover under and awning.

"Picked up a friendly," The female trooper announced.

"_A Spartan? Where the hell did she come from?" _Shar wasn't sure where the speaker was, but at this moment she didn't care.

Apparently the soldiers didn't either. "_Who cares? Spartan, assist!_"

Shar did just that. She ran toward the next closest brute who was attacking a civilian. She fired on but the brute didn't seem to really care. It was trying to crush the civilian under its foot. It worked for Shar. She simply fired until the hulk of an alien fell to the ground, allowing the civilian to struggle to his feet.

"Evac Team 7 to Kilo 26, we have eyes on Traxus Tower," One of the troopers reported.

Shar moved the south side of the area and found another brute moving toward her. She lobed a grenade and it went off behind the brute. "_Copy, Evac Team 7. Move to assist the evac_." Shar could have sworn that was what she was already doing. She cut down the injured brute with ease, quickly reloading when she finished.

She turned to the North and found two more brutes. She didn't hesitate to run toward them, assault rifle blazing. She fired on one until she was close enough and then pulled her fist back. Her robotic hand hit the side of the brute's head and she felt the creature's bones give way under the force. The body went flying back, hitting a wall. Shar turned to the next brute, emptying the rest of her clip into it. When she finished she turned to the last remaining brute.

She jumped up and started to fire on the alien. The brute tried to move down the stairs toward her but she kept her fire steady as she moved with it. Eventually they met up at the top of the stairs and Shar struck out. With great force she slammed the butt of her gun into the brute's chest. With the wounds from being shot the hit sent the dead body falling to the ground.

Shar didn't stop moving, turning and moving across the upper area the final brute had been attacking a man on. She moved over to a fallen soldier and grabbed the assault rifle ammunition that lay by the body.

"How do we get to the tower?" The female trooper asked.

Shar moved to the top of the stairs leading down on the west of the upper area. "Elevator in the atrium goes down to the cargo port. Cargo port goes to the tower." The trooper seemed calm as he explained the plan.

The door near the bottom of the stairs opened up and Shar spotted skirmishers moving out of it. She fired on them and the two skirmishers and one brute that had appeared turned to her. She tossed a grenade and it landed behind them. The explosive went off, killing one skirmisher and injuring the other two aliens. She opened fire on the brute, and then the skirmisher, cutting them both down. A third skirmisher moved out of the doorway. Shar fired and it was sent reeling back a bit. It stunned it enough that she was able to run down toward it. Her elbow struck out, hitting its chest and crushing the bird-like alien's body between her arm and the wall behind it.

"Okay, let's move in and find that elevator." The troopers all started to move down to where she was. Shar didn't wait for them. She moved into the building. She needed to secure the elevator and get out of here as quickly as possible.


	21. Exodus Part 2

Exodus part 2

Shar could tell that getting to the elevator wasn't going to be easy at all. She moved up the stairs in the building to a level of semi-transparent glass floor. A voice echoed over her head, welcoming her to the tower and it echoed in the large hall. There were a couple civilians nearby, looking terrified as she had expected they would. For now Shar ignored them, turning to the north were there was opening to a larger area.

Shar moved forward, taking in as much as she could of the room in a glance. Before her was a planter with two trees on each side. She made note of the DMR and assault rifle that were lying by it. Past it there were stairs leading up to what Shar could only guess was the elevator they were looking for. The arches reached high into the sky, holding the glass roof far above them.

Needler rounds hit Shar in the back and she spun to find herself facing a grunt. Two steps and she was on the small alien, her fist hitting it's skull with a satisfying crack. Where did they keep coming from?

Shar checked the area and confident that there was nothing else she moved back to the doorway. She spotted a grunt and fired, though the foe was too far away for her to hit it with a pistol, at least not in her condition. She looked to the west and spotted two stealth brutes moving toward her. She tossed a plasma grenade and it moved past the pair, hitting the wall behind them. One of the brutes prepared his own grenade. The explosion of her grenade caught it off guard, causing the brute's grenade to drop only feet away from the monstrous alien. Shots from the second brute's spiker found their mark, causing Shar's energy shield to flair. She threw a second grenade and moved back, looking for cover. The dropped grenade went off, killing the first brute. Shar switched to her assault rifle and fired. It kept the second brute at bay long enough for her second grenade to go off and kill it.

Gunfire filled the air as the rest of the troopers started to open fire on enemies. Shar moved around to the east side of the building and she spotted a group of grunts. Switching back to her pistol she quickly shot two of them in the head before she had to reload. Two more stealth brutes appeared and started to fire on her. She weaved in an effort to avoid their shots, though it only sort of worked. She fired with her pistol, but with her limbs aching and her mind clouded by painkillers, she was only managing to it their shoulders. At this rate she'd be killed before she killed them. She'd have to do something different. She tossed a grenade and it bounced past them, detonating far enough away that they didn't even seem to notice.

Shar switched out to her assault rifle. It may not be as accurate but at this rate her pistol fire was about as accurate as the bullets an assault rifle sprayed. She fired no the brutes, causing them to retreat back. Another public announcement echoed in the air but was drowned out by the sounds of combat. Shar moved around a staircase to where she hoped she'd get some cover and a chance for her shields to recharge.

"Somebody shut that damn thing off!" Shar had to agree with whatever trooper had made the comment. The booming voice didn't really help them, was only a distraction, and it made her head hurt a bit.

With her shields recharging Shar moved back out toward her enemies. She opened fire and quickly cut down a grunt before turning to a brute beside it. With her and another marine firing the brute didn't stand a chance and fell. Spiker rounds hit the ground near her and Shar spotted the source. A brute stood on the level that the elevator was on, firing down on them. Shar moved back, out of range. She needed to find a better way to fight these brutes, because right now she was about as useful as any of the other marines in the room.

Shar moved back to the planter that she had first seen when she'd entered. The announcements echoed again, something about evacuations. Shar didn't care, she wanted to bust out the speakers for the way they made her head pound with each word.

With her pistol nearly empty Shar dropped it, grabbing the DMR that was resting against the side of the planter. With the familiar weapon in hand Shar took a calming breath and collected herself. She moved out from around the planter and took aim at the brute on the upper level with the DMR. She swept the area but the brute must have moved back. Instead she turned her attention to a stealth brute below. Her fist shot grazed its helmet and the second two missed as it moved behind an archway.

Shar switched to her assault rifle, knowing that it would be better in close range. She moved forward and soon the brute came into view. With nothing to hide behind the brute moved out more into the open so it could fire back at Shar. She opened fire first and moved to dodge the spiker rounds. She kept her assault rifle pointed at the brute and in a second of full fire he was dead. Shar moved back as the brute on the level above fired down at her.

She switched to her DMR and focused fully on each and every shot. Her head was a bit fuzzy so the round still mostly hit the brute in the shoulder or chest. Finally, two shots found its helmet, sending it flying through the air. She fired one last time and the third round ripped through the brute's temple.

Shar moved up the second level, moving over the dead bodies of the brutes toward the east set of stairs up. She'd seen jackals at the top of the west so she hoped that there wouldn't be any there and she could get the drop on the others, even if logic told her they would be on both sides. She switched to her assault rifle and moved up the stairs. At the top she found nothing. There were no jackals waiting for her. She spotted a blue shielded jackal moving around the long planter in the center of the upper level. Shar could tell it was surprised and she opened fire.

Shar cursed as she realized she hadn't reloaded the assault rifle in a while, so when she fired there were only about ten rounds fired before it was empty. The jackal moved back around the planter as Shar reloaded. She gave chase, moving around the planter and half a second worth of rounds shredded the jackal into ground meat.

Shar turned to see a red shielded jackal right beside her. It let out a squawk of surprise and she fired. The rounds bounded off its shield but caused the bird-like alien to stumble back. Shar moved forward and her elbow stuck the jackal's neck, snapping it easily. Plasma fire hit Shar from slightly to her left and she looked to see one last jackal. She fired, moving toward it. Her clip ran dry, but she didn't care. She moved forward and smacked the butt of her gun into the jackal's head. It landed at the bottom of the stairs in a heap.

Shar moved to the elevator, eager to get on with whatever she needed to do. She could feel the painkillers starting to wear off. At this rate she needed to get this over with soon or she would collapse in combat. She hit the button to call the elevator but nothing happened.

"What the hell's taking this thing so long?" The fear was evident in the trooper's voice. Shar didn't blame him. The Covenant would know they were here, they'd come ready for a fight.

"_Uh, we're evacuating a group of civilians on the floor below you. Soon as they reach the cargo port, I'll send the elevator back up_." Shar was a bit annoyed by Stacker's calm. He'd just been so casual about telling them he was leaving them waiting with Covenant probably on the way.

"Dropships, deploying to the courtyard. Watch your flanks." The warning snapped Shar to attention. She moved to the east. The trooper seemed to take charge. "Okay, everyone find some cover, stay sharp. We need to hold this position." Shar wanted to do what he ordered, stay back and be somewhere safe for just a moment, but she knew if she did that she'd likely lose all of the troopers with her, and the civilians.

She moved to the doorway and prepared for anything to come. If they came the other way she was sure the troopers would alert her. From the tables set up with umbrellas she was sure this had once been a place that people ate, sat for lunch, a place of calm. Now it was a battlefield. Funny how the Covenant could turn anywhere into a battle field.

A spirit dropped down and hovered over the courtyard she was watching. Shar took aim, preparing for whatever it dropped. Four grunts and two stealth brutes hit the ground and Shar took aim. She took down the first three with headshots quickly but as she fired at the third found that the body of another grunt was in the way. She paused for a moment, allowing the grunt to move forward a bit before she dispatched it with a final headshot.

Shar stepped back, reloading her weapon and then moving back into the door way. The brutes moved around the planter they had landed behind when they'd been dropped. Two rounds and the first brute's helmet went soring. One final shot to the right side of the brute's skull made its body spin before it fell to the ground. Shar fired twice, hitting off the helmet of the second one. Her third shot stuck the pole of one of the umbrellas in the way. The fourth round managed to find its mark in the brute's skull.

That was when Shar saw the final enemy the ship had dropped. She could see the top of the helmet and the hammer of the brute poking up over the other side of the planter. She decided not to give it a chance to attack. Three rounds and the helmet broke apart, followed by a round through the head. Shar heard more phantoms, but she couldn't see them. She moved out into the courtyard making a decision.

She moved out to where the brutes had been killed. Shar dropped her assault rifle and grabbed the hammer that the brute had dropped. She needed to get this over with, and what better way than simple brute force. She noticed that one of the troopers marked as being on her fireteam's name went red and she cursed. The soldiers were under attack. Shar moved around the planter and saw that the troopers had lead several brutes toward her, and were dying since there was no cover to hide behind.

With adrenaline pumping through her veins Shar ran forward. She swung the hammer and it hit a brute who was standing over a marine, about to slam its own hammer down on the human. Shar's hammer hit it in the side and Shar grinned behind her helmet at the sickening sound of bone breaking and the insides of the brute being torn to shreds by the force of the blow. She twisted the hammer in her grip and swung it back the other way, hitting a stealth brute and catching him between the force of the hammer and a wall. The body slumped to the ground but left a nice red blotch on the wall. Sort of a Spartan version of art.

She rounded on the last remaining enemy, a skirmisher that was stumbling as rounds from a trooper's assault rifle hit it and the area round it. She moved to it and slammed the end of the hammer closer to her hand into its skull. She had to shake the hammer a bit to dislodge the dead skirmisher.

With the area clear Shar once more moved back to the elevator. She spotted one last skirmisher and switched to her assault fire. She fired lightly, just enough to keep it in place before she moved up to it and slammed her fist down on its head. She ignored the blood that now was coating her armor and looked down at the broken body of her enemy.

"Damn, Lieutenant…Glad you're on our side." Shar didn't know how to take the comment. Was he praising her for being skilled in combat, or was he more scared of the way she'd easily killed everything without missing a beat, even wielded a hammer. She wasn't sure which, but from the tone of voice she wouldn't have been surprised if it were a little of both.

The elevator finally arrived and Shar was just about to step on when she heard gunfire. Shar turned to see a stealth brute moving toward her. She met it half way, hammer in hand. She struck the brute and the blow caused the skull to go straight down and collide with the alien's pelvic bone before the body went flying. Blood coated the area and Shar looked around, simply wanting to see if there was anything else she could kill.

It was a bit worrying, but she was enjoying herself. Deep down she loved her job, making every Covenant suffer. She didn't mind the blood, mud, and guts that usually covered her. To her they sometimes felt like home. She shifted the hammer in her hand as she moved back to the elevator. She wondered if she would have used the hammer had Noble team been around. Sure, Emile might think nothing of her choosing to slam her fist into the head of just about every grunt she could, or using a hammer to basically obliterate a brute, but would the others.

She realized that she wouldn't have been that brutal in the killings, she wouldn't have put the end of the gravity hammer though the skirmisher's skull. She would have hung back with DMR and assault rifle and let them come to her, if that was what she was ordered. Still, even if Carter had ordered her to run out into the courtyard and kill the enemies, she still would have used firearms.

Shar stood in the elevator, looking over at the soldier beside her. The man looked wary, and she couldn't blame him. A soldier in high-power armor and covered in blood just walked in and stood next to him. That along with a hammer covered in blood as well made for a bit of a terrifying sight. Though honestly that was what Shar had been going for. She often found that against brutes being the more aggressive and violent sent the grunts and jackals running while it made the brutes lose their cool and caused them to slip up in their anger.

Shar hit the button on the controls in the elevator. She pushed away her thoughts, knowing that they had no place on the battlefield. She needed to be focused, ready for whatever was next.

Stacker's voice cut in over her radio. "_If you're trying to get to the tower, you're too late, Lieutenant. Corvette over the starport pounded the hell out of the place. Cargo port is impassable on foot, rooftop evacs a wash._" Shar listened to the information, though it didn't mean much to her. She just needed to know where she should go now. "_We can use the executive landing pad, except there's no easy way to get there. A group of ODST specialists are working a plan. They might appreciate some backup_."

Finally some good news. She'd get to work with some ODST.


	22. Exodus Part 3

Exodus part 3

Shar stepped out of the elevator, eager to get moving. All pain was gone from her mind as she was now excited to be able to work with some ODST. It felt like so long since she'd even seen an ODST. There was a sort of satisfaction, fulfillment that she got when she worked with ODST. She couldn't explain it, maybe it was just in her blood. Her father had been one and she'd always dreamed of becoming one like him. It was probably why she felt part ODST, part Spartan. She wore the high tech suit of a Spartan, but made to look like an ODST. A mix of what drove her. Her father's legacy, and the three Spartans that had saved her all those years ago.

As she stepped out of the elevator, there was a trooper ready. He motioned a bit down the hallway to where it split to the left. "On the other side of the hall there, Lieutenant. Right through the triage."

Shar moved forward and she spotted a doorway, an ODST on either side. They were looking through the doorway, toward the sky. As Shar reached them they moved into the doorway and she heard what they were watching for. The whine of banshees filled the air She moved to the side of the doorway, toward a ammunition's crate as plasma struck along the open concrete, missing her.

She heard the ODST open fire on the banshees but she knew it would be no good. She smiled a bit as she heard one of them shout at the retreating banshees. "Consider yourself shock troopered." It was such a stupid thing to say, but she had to admit, at least he was trying.

Shar set aside her assault rifle and grabbed one of the DMRs from the ammunition's crate. She then dropped her grav hammer and switched out for a shotgun. Always felt better to have human weapons in her hands rather than covies. Besides, with how Troopers worked, they would go running in and she might end up hitting one with the hammer rather than a foe. She wasn't willing to risk that.

With her new weapons she turned and moved along the bent metal that lead to where the troopers were gathered. She heard a rumbling sound and recognized it. Her gaze turned to the left just in time to see a Trooper moving through the air, jet pack roaring.

"There she is, the one they were talking about." Shar could hear the edge of something in his voice. Whether doubt in who she was, discontent for a Spartan, or unimpressed with the sight of her. All she knew is it wasn't the astonished, amazed tone that most soldiers had when they met a Spartan. Shar moved past a marine and over to where a pair of ODST were preparing to jump. "We've got an extra Jetpack. Go ahead, try it on Spartan."

That was when Shar could pinpoint what it was in his voice. It was like he was just talking to any other ODST. Though there was an undertone, like she was a rookie that hadn't proven herself yet. She'd show him soon enough. Shar moved into a small storage area and removed her armor lock. While she'd miss it, she was willing to give it up to join the ODST. She slipped on the gear with ease and secured it in place.

"Welcome to the bullfrogs." The voice sounded rather pleased, though Shar didn't have the heart to tell him she was already a bullfrog.

Shar turned and watched one of the two ODST jetpack to the next platform. She raced forward and as soon as she reached the edge jumped. Her pack came to life and gave her the extra boost, carrying her across to the next area. She could see that once the areas had been connected, but what had once been a walkway or stairs was broken away, leaving nothing but the bent metal to show that something was missing.

"We're going to capture the landing pad on the executive wing so the evac birds can land." The ODST's voice got a hint of a cocky attitude to it. "Try to keep up, Spartan."

Shar fell into line with the procession of ODST as they jumped from one platform to the next. It was easy, and much easier than the training that she'd done with the bullfrogs. Compared to that this was a cake walk. She landed on the final pad and spotted grunts starting to walk down a ramp.

Shar joined a pair of ODST in firing on the small aliens from a distance with their DMRs. She killed several before turning her attention to the space above the grunts. The head of a jackal appeared for a moment then vanished. She caught sight of its blue shield and then found a much more interesting target.

Shar sighted on a brute, far in the distance. From the way he was standing, it was obvious it was holding a hammer. One of the other ODST had already jumped across, not aware of the danger. She aimed at the head and fired. She fired three times and the helmet went flying. She cursed as she had to reload her weapon, giving the brute enough time to regain its senses and jump down a bit. She quickly took aim and one last shot caused the body to fall, hammer falling harmlessly to the ground.

With the major thread gone, Shar moved to the edge of the pad and made the last jump. She reached the peak of her flight over the last area and as she dropped she fired, a shot expertly hitting a grunt's head. Now this was more like it.

Shar readied a grenade and then activated her pack. She rose up and then tossed it. The grenade went off at the feet of a jackal, sending it flying. She was tired of long range fighting and made the final jump up to the higher area. A few quick shots on the closest jackal and it fell. The second tried to run away but Shar moved around the large shipping container and caught it while it's shield was down. It's chest and head blossomed into a spray of blood as the rounds found their marks.

The threat was quickly replaced with a brute moving toward Shar. She switched to her shotgun and moved behind the crate. The brute, trying to move away from the two other ODST moved right toward her. Shar moved forward, shooting at the brute from a distance. Her shot sent it stumbling a bit as the rounds pierced skin. Shar took a step forward and brought her fist back. It slammed into the brute's head and it fell to the ground, lifeless.

Shar turned her attention to the remaining gathered brutes. She tossed a grenade, which sent them all diving for cover. She moved back behind her crate and switched to her DMR. As she moved out again she found herself facing down four brutes moving directly for her. She tossed a plasma grenade but they all moved out of the way of the explosive. Shar switched back to her shotgun and decided to handle this the way she preferred. Head on.

She moved to the closest brute and when she was only inches away, fired. The shot broke apart the Brute's chest. She turned her attention to the next one that was close enough. A shot from one of the ODST's DMR caused the brute to fall to its knee. Shar pulled back her fist and brought it down on the back of the kneeling brute's skull. The alien's helmet and skull cracked under the force.

Shar ran forward, shotgunning the next two brutes without missing a beat. She moved behind a crate, though, when the rounds from the last brute nearly hit her. She tossed a grenade and heard the surprised and scared shout of a grunt. When she moved out from behind the box the brute was using some sort of alien version of armor lock while the grunt was running about.

Shar decided to leave the grunt be for now and punish the brute for using a bastard version of her love. AS soon as the brute had come out of armor lock Shar was there, ready. Her shotgun was leveled at its head and she fired. There was something so satisfying about sending the ape like alien's brains flying through the air. The grunt was still running about so Shar put away her shotgun and moved around to block the grunt's path. She brought the butt of her DMR to meet the grunt's head and it caved in.

Needles shot through the air and hit Shar's shields. She looked up to spot several grunts above. She watched as an ODST jumped forward, up to the railing that the grunts were on. She moved up the stairs and around the back way, not wanting to be a target in the air.

Shar cursed as one of the names on her fireteam vanished and was replaced with a red X. She moved up the stairs and as she reached the very top she spotted another trooper. Just as she was about ot join him a grunt moved around the corner, trying to get away from the ODST before it was killed. Shar didn't even think, just grabbed the small alien's head and slammed it against the wall with ease. She let the body fall at her feet.

There was a bright blue light ahead of her and she heard the panicked shout of an ODST. The trooper before her was stuck and she could do nothing as the grenade went off, taking out another member of her team.

She didn't have time to even think before a brute appeared. Shar shot several times, round hitting the large alien's chest. It tossed a grenade and Shar stepped back just in time to see it cross the air where she'd just been standing. She switched to her shotgun and moved back to the top of the stairs. She spotted the brute hiding behind a box and a grunt in the corner. Shar tossed a grenade and took a step back. She heard it go off and moved into the room.

Only the grunt was still alive, though not for long once she'd pumped a shell of her shotgun into it. None of it made up for the two lost members of her team. But she'd kill every Covie in the city just to see if it would.

She moved forward and spotted a final brute. The aliens' concussion rifle fired and Shar's ears rang but she fired past it, the rounds from her DMR caused the brute to go into hiding. Fueled by her anger she moved around the pillar that the brute was using to hide. She moved around behind the brute and brought the gun down on the side of the brute's head. It injured and stunned it so she finished it off with one last shot to the side of the head.

This was why she didn't get attached. She'd let herself have a moment of weakness and got a bit attached to the ODST. Now two of them were dead. She felt it was all her fault, that there should have been something she could have done. She decided not to try to calm herself. The anger made the blood flow through her faster and it seemed to allow her to forget the pain that was ever increasing in her body. She'd need the anger to keep fighting.

The last brute was hiding, like a coward, but Shar wasn't going to leave any alive. She moved over to it and it raised its weapon firing a few times but Shar ignored it. She shot once with her shotgun, obliterating the alien's neck. Still the death didn't ease her anger. She looked down at her fireteam and realized that only one of the four ODST she'd started with was still alive. A man marked as Lico. She knew he would follow, fight on as he should. She didn't want him to. She wanted to order him to sit there on the area and just watch the paint peel, but she couldn't . He was a soldier, and fighting was what they were for. She wouldn't deny him that.

Shar moved into the building ahead and ran past the marine inside. "Head up to the roo level, Spartan." Shar did as she was instructed, jumping up to the center to find out where to go. She looked out of the open window and saw the phantom dropping off troops. "_Other side, other side! Entrance is on the other side!_"

Shar looked to her fireteam and found that the final member was gone. No red X, just gone. She let out a breath, glad that at least for now he wouldn't have to follow her. Follow her into the firefights that were awaiting them. She charged forward, jumping up to the top floor of the building to join the next group of soldiers. She made a silent vow to Lico that she would avenge his fallen teammates by killing every last one of the damn covies that infested the city.


End file.
